Chapter. 17. Preparation for travel (6)
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While leaving the refugee camp, Dana continued explaining in a quiet voice.
“Zeus Belly?”
“okay. Do you remember? “The one you shot when there was a war with the Raptor.”
Every time I remember. It was one of the most exciting moments in my eventful life, so how could I forget it?
It is a gigantic weapon built on the foundation of an entire building, and its output is so majestic that a single shot can cause a power outage in the entire dome for several days, and there is even a risk that the person operating it may be electrocuted by the vibration, noise, and overvoltage! Wow, my heart is racing even thinking about it now!
“So… is this here?”
“that’s right. “At that time, the place was swept away by Mayer Zeus’ bombardment.”
“A real valley has appeared.”
“I don’t know if this expression is right, but it was a bit too much firepower to use it to wipe out ‘just’ a few dozen tanks. “In the first place, it was a weapon made to kill with one blow even the decisive battle weapons of the old era.”
Zeus Belly.
In a way, it could be said to be a fitting name since it is a valley created by a single shot of electromagnetic artillery.
“At that time, after the war, Zeus Valley was very crowded with scavengers. At that time, the remains of the tank that had melted from the shelling were tangled with the melted ground, and as you know, tanks are made of high-quality alloy. People without equipment dig up the melted and splattered chunks with a pickaxe, and people with equipment cut the melted alloy with something like a laser cutter and sell it. “There were even vehicles and towing equipment that fell into the valley as they retreated, so it was literally a gold mine.”
“Raptor-made vehicles and tanks rolling around in the open… It must have been a bonanza.”
“yes. As there are many workers working hard almost 24 hours a day, with the sound of pickaxes and laser cutters pounding, temporary shelters are created, and as temporary shelters are created, restaurants are created to provide simple meals to them… As a result, more and more domes are built. It developed into something like a small market outside. “The terrain was also concave, so it was good to avoid sandstorms.”
It is said that open pit mines have turned into lodgings for workers, lodgings into markets, and markets into black markets.
Well, it’s a natural procedure. The dome is where all the caravans around come together, and the inside of the dome is watched by the inspection department with their eyes turned on. There are also some tariffs.
However, people gather near such a logistics hub, and a landmark has been created that is sunk deep below the ground and hard to see unless you come looking for it, but also has its own infrastructure.
Caravans are also people from the wasteland, and since people in the wasteland kill each other on a daily basis, there were many cases where they came into possession of items that were not intended for them. In many cases, those items are expensive items that are prohibited from being handled in the dome.
It was a very welcome market for caravan owners, who had goods piled up in their warehouses that were too wasteful to throw away and that would get caught if they tried to sell them. On the way to the dome, I secretly sold the drugs, chemical grenades, and cryopreserved organs that I had in my pockets on the black market, then went to the dome as if nothing had happened and sold the things I normally sell.
I guess they left it in the dome too. Anyway, no matter what we do, we can’t stop drug addicts from bringing in drugs, but if we do that, we can at least stop things from circulating inside the dome.
“Early mutant byproducts were treated as ethically unclean due to the perception that they used the bodies of what were once humans, and naturally they ended up on the black market here in Zeus Valley.”
And the black market grows explosively.
Those biochemical resources that can be called innovation except for the ethical aspect.
After a simple process, the mutated corpse was reborn as a bullet-repellent body armor, a generator that burns organic matter to generate power, and a sword with a sharpness comparable to that of a laser blade. The materials were piled up in a heap in front of the dome’s defense line.
“Ethical issues. I heard it was a bit serious. Actually, if you look at Camilla, it’s not wrong to say that, is it?”
“No. In fact, the reason why Type 2.5s flooded in like that in the early days was because all the scavengers and other survivors living on the outskirts of the dome were transformed. In fact, it’s no different from processing people’s bodies to make things. “I was also against it at the time.”
When you say it like this, it seems like public opinion was just divided for and against, but at the time, it was said to be so serious that fights broke out several times a day.
‘If human skin is warm and strong, would you take it off and make clothes?’ Opponents of the position say, ‘All the world’s resources are drying up, and this is only a newly discovered resource. Those in favor of the position, ‘How is throwing this away any different from dying slowly together?’
It is natural for wasteland people to value practical benefits, but at that time, refugees were flooding in, and most people had seen their family members or acquaintances turn into mutants right before their eyes.
Then a twist happened.
“A proliferating variant has been discovered.”
“…Does the variant reproduce?”
“huh. “And very proactively.”
For a moment, I thought about the variants I knew. Type 1 2 is ambiguous because it is actually treated the same as a zombie.
Walking Cane. A humanoid monster that is made up of concrete trees the size of buildings, tangled together to form a road wall.
Old picture. The father of a shoe lump and irregular shape.
Among the adaptors is a twelve-legged monster hanging on a flaming cross. The guy who burned Ezel’s face.
Noho buru. A living, moving rotten tiger.
W. A phantom without substance.
.
.
.
.
No matter how much I think about it, I can’t imagine how this thing reproduces?
If there’s a guy who breeds something absurd… it’s in Area 38.
Was he a Mugler? That rolling ball of hair. To be precise, it was an act similar to the division of single-celled organisms and not reproduction.
“….how?”
“Not everything. The breeding population itself is rare. However, the number of individuals that have mutated to enable reproduction has increased faster than we could imagine. know? “How does a mutant virus change a person?”
“That’s understandable. This is because the psychological aspect accounts for a high proportion in determining mutation. “If the changed form is such that interspecies reproduction is possible, then it must have been a true beast that only had that in its mind even when it was alive.”
“The first one discovered was a rodent-like species with six genitals.”
“You really play like you’re supposed to.”
I felt Dana, who was tired after walking for quite some time, lean a little more on my arm. Come to think of it, I must have left the back alley of the refugee camp before I knew it, as the number of people passing by increased and I began to hear lively noise.
“Anyway, the discovery of a fertile variant completely turned public opinion around. Reproduction strengthened the opinion that they were not just mutations but a different species with new genes. Even so, the by-product products that were developing dramatically day by day were shaking people’s hearts, but as soon as this fact was announced, everyone thought it was a mistake and turned their eyes away from the ethics of the past.”
When public opinion completely tilted, the Dome had no choice but to officially acknowledge the existence of the mutant by-product industry.
Official recognition and active support. Moreover, as the refugee area expanded, Zeus Valley, which was located outside the dome, came into the area managed by the dome. With the rapidly increasing population and the valuables they brought with them as they fled, the commercial district of Zeus Valley has now expanded due to the by-product industry that has emerged as a sunny area. Let’s take a leap again.
From a black market where all kinds of shady groups and illegal drugs and goods were sold, to a night market that has become a landmark of the Dome in name and reality.
“Looking at the commotion, it looks like they’re all here.”
“No, there’s still a long way to go from here to the entrance.”
Dana said and led me by the arm out of the alley.
And what unfolds outside the alley. It was-
“Woah…. Someone said that if you come out now, you will be treated like a hillbilly.”
“I told you. “A lot has really changed while you were away.”
There was nothing short of it to describe it as a truly new world.
Buzz, buzz, buzz!
“Hey, don’t cut in line!”
“If you don’t like it, hit me? “You know this is a place where even the inspection department can’t catch everything, right?”
“under! Thank you for that! “You’re not saying there’s no one to catch me even if that side falls!”
“This bastard…!”
“In front of there! If you’re going to search, get out and search separately! Let’s move forward! “It’s going to leak me!”
The wide road, built for tanks and military trucks to travel smoothly, was filled with people and the oil lamps hanging tightly above them gave off a pungent and unique smell.
“Hey bro! Pierce is cool! If you come to line 12 on the upper floor of the night market, there is a place that does proper knuckle piercing! “It’s new, so it’s in the upper layer, but its skills are good enough to go down to the valley!”
“Hey pretty girl~ Let’s take a look at the clothes! “I have some tough, pretty clothes made from Red Bell leather that arrived a few days ago!”
“Not the clear moonlight of the old world, but the hazy moonlight of our times! Moonshine that symbolizes our times! A limited edition of Moon Glow, a huge hit that has grown along with the history of Zeus Valley, is now in stock! If you buy it now, you’ll even get the out-of-print ‘Professor Park No.17’ figure! Come down to the valley and find us!”
Among the people lined up, touts holding handmade picats were trying their best to attract people with their hoarse necks.
“Hey, get out of the way.”
“what? You can’t believe you’re doing this to me… Heeeek! Please pass by!”
Among them, quite a few people were seen carrying what looked like sacks dripping with blood.
And if you keep looking forward along the chaotic crucible-like line, a large, flashing signboard catches your eye a long way away.
[Unlimited Free Trade Market]
[Zeus Valley]
“When I heard it was a night market, I was thinking of some kind of food stall street…”
My heart pounded at the sight of the night street as if it had returned to before the war. It’s not just words, it’s the fact that two hearts designed to withstand extremely high blood pressure are pounding, making it sound like something is running in the chest.
And the street scene is also like this.
“Let’s just pass by for a moment-”
“No, who else… Ah, if you are someone involved in BDSM, you should speak up.”
“You always work hard. But it’s a face I’ve seen a lot somewhere….”
“Looking at the stiff jacket, I guess he’s a newbie! Let’s pass by! Don’t waste your money and buy expensive equipment! “Don’t go out and die in vain!”
.
.
.
.
The sight of people rushing to get out of the way to move forward was truly heart-warming.
No, it’s a bit shameful to do that to a saint or a human, Professor Park, but since they do it out of respect for the group I belong to and not myself, it’s somehow… Should I say I can enjoy it without pressure? Strangely enough, it feels good.
“The perception of BDSM is pretty good, right? I heard that a group of personality-disruptors like Metal Joe are a group that picks out and takes out only the most vicious people in the wasteland, so I thought, ‘Ah, if you wear this jacket, you should at least be prepared to get stoned on the street!’ “I thought so.”
“Because it’s a group that moves around a lot. Most of the operations are about hunting high-risk entities, and as a result, there are many cases of rescuing people who were suffering from such entities. He is talented, has saved many people, has a personality that only attracts problem children, and the leader of the group is said to be ‘Professor Park’, a legend in the wasteland. “In particular, Zeus Valley has been involved with BDSM people in one way or another since the black market days, so BDSM is highly respected here.”
While I was immersed in hospitality that I had never imagined, an entrance as flashy as a casino was right in front of me.
A space blocked by a large entrance and a wall as tall as the entrance.
The guards at the entrance took a quick look at my leather jacket, smiled brightly, and opened the way.
and.
“how is it. “Isn’t it gorgeous?”
“Is this… really reality? “Not virtual reality?”
In the true sense, a ‘different world’ unfolded.
Things like shells of various colors lying around like laundry.
A butcher who trimmed a whole leg with about four joints with a large kitchen knife.
A stall made of large bones woven together so that you can see at a glance what the store is selling.
From the merchant who hangs up what looks like dried internal organs and carefully wraps one of them in greaseproof paper before offering it to you, to the seamstress who tries her best to make holes in the mottled leather with an awl.
“….”
“hmm? “What did you just say?”
“Oh no. nothing.”
This time, I mumbled ‘log out’, thinking I was sure, but as expected, nothing changed.
Shops like the Orc Garrison, ingredients like Warlock’s reagents, monster meat that even GG doesn’t seem to handle, and they were all things that existed in ‘reality’.
Like words such as college entrance exam, civil servant, or office worker, the term “multi-jointed leg meat” made from monster meat bones has now become a word used in reality.
“This isn’t at the level of a hillbilly, it’s just a different world…”
Is this how an 80-year-old man who has driven a carriage his whole life would feel if he were hit by a steam locomotive?
After watching the young man who had just bought the dried intestines pull out a strange gun and put it inside, I couldn’t believe that less than a year had passed since I had been gone.
How can something change so much in just a few months?
“The world is definitely going on without me…”
I guess I was in GG for too long. Because that was a world where I controlled the direction of that world.
Whether I am a saint, a Dom hero, or just Professor Park, an individual survivor who lacks affection.
The world went by so quickly while I was lying there like a corpse.
“It’s reality…”
“….Professor?”
“Oh sorry. “It was so amazing that I was mesmerized for a moment.”
Surprisingly, without even realizing it, I had a voice in my heart saying, ‘I am a saint! I am a completer! I am the one who will save you!!!’ I guess we had some of the same thoughts. When I see a world that runs just fine without me, I feel a little lethargic.
“Dana.”
“huh?”
“There are probably still some people who brought in illegal goods when the current night market was a black market, right?”
“It must have increased even more than then. As the market grew, the interests grew. The ‘human hunter’ that Camilla mentioned is probably one of those guys. From what I heard, there are some who kidnap people, torture them, force them to traumatize them, turn them into mutants, and sell them.”
“Is that so?”
Great. If you exchange a can of lead bullets with bad friends, your sense of reality after leaving home will soon return.
‘….oh my god. Come to think of it, you came out without a gun or a knife, right? Am I sane? Even the basic common sense of a truly wasteland has been completely lost, right?’
and. This is a bit shocking. I can’t believe I’m a beginner. You have become a race that people in the wasteland laugh at and call you ‘young masters’!
“Do they sell guns here too?”
“More than anywhere else in the Dome.”
“Good. Shopping will be fun.”
I walked into the market, thinking about what kind of weapon would be good to revive the old sense of feeling empty in my chest and pockets.
It seemed like it wasn’t just my body that needed rehabilitation treatment.
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