Apocalypse Hunter

Chapter 16: Forget to Live (1)

Of course, all the looted treasures in Ard Point had blown up with the explosion. But that didn’t mean that there was nothing else left. There were still the supplies of the Reavers.

“These guys… did they raid a Wargrave Fortress? How did they come across such weapons…”

Zin had rushed into Ard Point, he’d had no time to closely look at the weapons. But he was speechless as he looked at the weapon-filled junkwagons in the parking lot area.

The wagons were loaded with heavy weaponry including RPGs, bazookas, Panzerfausts, and warheads.

“What are all these?”

Similar to other Ancient-Koreans, Leona had no idea what these weapons were.

However, judging by the dangerous-looking objects, Leona was able to figure about that they weren’t ordinary. In fact, Leona remembered last night’s attack and felt horrified.

“One of the bastards was shooting something, and the buildings were getting destroyed like sand castles. Is this what he used?”

“Ah, that would be this weapon.”

Zin picked up a rocket launcher.

“It’s called an RPG. This is a type seven.”

“Is it an ancient weapon?”

“Well… you could say that.”

It was an ancient weapon. A weapon widely used 200 years ago. But Zin found it amusing to hear it called ancient. Technically, all of Zin’s rifles were ancient weapons as well. The RPG series in his hands were developed after the apocalypse.

“Can I fire it? How do you use it?”

“I’d rather dispose of all these weapons than watch you fire this baby.”

Zin shook his head as he imagined Leona firing the rocket launcher. Leona kept on asking questions, but he ignored her and scanned through the junkwagons.

I see no rifles, only heavy-artillery-type weapons… What type of weapon composition is this?

Warheads for rocket launchers and RPG-7 were stacked in separate piles, and there were hand grenades called chipbusters as well.

“Hmmm.”

Zin felt the most astonishment at seeing explosive shells that were used for anti-aircraft artillery. It didn’t make sense that there were shells, but no artillery weapons to use them.

They must have raided some place.

It didn’t make sense for the Reavers to be unarmed without a single gun or rifle.

What a pity there’s no ammo.

Zin was unable to find a single piece of 5.66mm or 7.62mm ammo. They’d probably raided a heavy artillery armory and ran away as fast as they could.

“In any case, this is pretty good… Alright.”

Zin grabbed a rocket launcher. Leona peeked over as he he put warheads into his bag.

“Are those expensive?”

“Well… it’s not that they’re expensive.”

Zin pondered for a while, and gave an answer.

“You can’t get these even with chips.”

That meant that these weapons were extremely invaluable. As soon as Leona heard that, she became very happy.

“That means they are very expensive! Let me take some too!”

There was a lot of heavy artillery so it wasn’t possible to carry them all.

“I think you misunderstood me.”

Zin grabbed Leona by her shoulder and said:

“You can’t get them easily, and you can’t sell them either.”

“Why is that?”

“You can sell these types of weapon to those who don’t know how to use them, right? However, if you sell these to those who know about them, you will become a person of interest. Do you intend to be killed as soon as you arrive at a village? And where do you intend to store them?”

Leona couldn’t even fit a single warhead into her leather bag.

“And if I’m not mistaken, these are from the Wargrave guys.”

“Wargrave? You mean the military dudes?”

“Yeah… Wargraves are the only group that can carry these types of heavy artillery.”

It was not possible for groups other than the military to carry these weapons in bulk. Zin was pretty certain about it.

“I don’t know the details, but these Reavers probably stole from the Wargraves. Openly carrying around Wargrave weapons is basically asking to be killed.

“Right…”

Leona stared at Zin.

“And you’re still taking some of them?”

“I’m carrying them concealed. That’s different.”

Zin pointed at the void storage, and Leona sighed with her head down.

“This is not fair…”

The space of the void storage was limited, and Zin could only take a limited amount with him.

I have the launcher, so I can probably take ten warheads if I pack them tight.

Zin had to leave some extra space in the void storage in case he

had to carry evidence for a hunt. Finally, Zin picked out the things that he was going to carry.

Zin picked an advanced type of heat-pressure warheads.

“How are they different?”

Curious, Leona asked Zin who was carefully inspecting the weapon.

“Hmm…”

Putting the warhead into the void storage, Zin wondered how to answer her.

“If the Reaver had shot this thing at you yesterday, you’d be dead.”

He also added:

“And that building would have collapsed too.”

As Zin explained, the heat-pressure warheads had monstrous power. And they were developed as an advanced type of explosive after the apocalypse. It was powerful enough to take down a mid-sized or a large-sized monster. While he explained, Leona couldn’t imagine how powerful that would be.

Zin got the reward chips, as well as powerful warheads. The heat-pressure warheads that the Reavers had were powerful and in great condition. They were easily worth over three to four thousand chips. Leona knew that the weapons were both dangerous and valuable at the same time.

“What do we do with the leftovers?”

They couldn’t carry anymore, and it was a scary thought to leave them in the open field for others to get them.

“We need to bury them.”

Zin took out a shovel and started digging the ground. He was so strong that he scooped through the earth as easily as if he was digging some jello. He dug a hole in no time.

How would one remember to find buried weapons in this vast world? Leona didn’t know if it was possible, but she kept on watching Zin, who wasn’t even asking for help. In the past, Zin had buried any ammunition or weapons that he was unable to carry all around the world. Zin was able to remember the location as long as he inputted the coordinates into the darkborn system. He’d rather remember the location than destroy the weapons or allow others to take possession. Zin dug a hole that was big enough to put in three junkwagons. It was more surprising afterward. It was obvious that burying the launchers and warheads would make them rusted and unusable. Zin took out the steel plates from the junkwagons, welded them into a steel box, dumped all the warheads into the box, and then sealed the box so that water couldn’t get inside. Leona had never seen a welding machine before, and she shook her head at Zin’s work.

Using the shovel, Zin buried the steel boxes, flattened the ground, and finally stretched his back. Leona watched Zin’s labor and said:

“You look like a dog burying its bone.”

“… well, you are spot on, and it’s making me mad.”

Zin was a little different than a dog by the fact that he buried his bones all around the world.

“Are you done now?”

Leona kept on yawning while waiting for Zin to finish, but Zin opened the reactors of the junkwagons.

“Now what?”

“I’m taking whatever is available.”

Junkwagons used chips as a source of energy. And Zin was planning to take all their fuel. All the junkwagons looked different, but they had the same type of engine reactors. Zin scraped away every single chip from the reactors.

He was able to secure 280 chips in total and adding the warheads and chips, Zin came out with a profit even though he wasn’t assigned on a mission to eradicate Reavers.

“You know, I thought I was pretty badass.”

Leona was looking at Zin in astonishment.

“So what?”

“But nah… you, mister, are the best.”

Leona gave two thumbs up.

“Out of all the people that I’ve met, you’re the worst.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“Of course it is!”

Zin went through all the goods, consumed all the fuel in the junkwagons, and furthermore, buried all the weapons that he couldn’t carry. Zin, who labored without getting bored or tired, looked like a madman to Leona.

And now, after finishing all the work, it was time for them to hit the road.

“Aren’t we riding this thing?”

Leona asked Zin. She had never seen an operating junkwagon, but she was able to figure out that it was a vehicle of some sort.

“I’ve got no business driving on a bomb.”

“Why? Isn’t it better than walking? We won’t get tired. And those bastards rode on them pretty well, no?”

“There is one thing that you need to be aware of.”

Zin stopped walking and looked at Leona.

“There are some things that I hate. One of them is taking risks. The next is being loud and lively.”

“…”

“And that junkwagon has those two traits. I would rather ride the back of a monster instead of that.”

Zin had promised himself that he would never ride on a junkwagon. It was his belief and he loathed the junkwagons. The junkwagon’s loud engine either scared away the monsters or attracted them. Moving around with it would expose one to danger, and Zin refused to take part in that.

“Is that so dangerous?”

“I’ll show you.”

A picture was worth more than a thousand words.

—boom!—

“Ahhh!”

Zin approached a junkwagon and kicked it with his foot. With a loud bang, the side of the junkwagon crumbled, and it broke into pieces. Leona’s mouth dropped down in astonishment as she saw the junkwagon turn into a piece of junk in a split second.

“What was that…?”

“The reason the Reavers are called crazy is that they drive around in these pieces of junk.”

Leona did not want to ride on a vehicle that disintegrated with a kick. Zin walked away, and Leona followed him with a shudder.

“You know, I understand that it’s a dangerous vehicle, but didn’t you kick that thing too hard, mister?”

“It was a gentle kick.”

“No? I saw your foot mark on the steel plate.”

“I think you’re seeing things.”

There was a foot-sized mark on the junkwagon’s steel plate. Leona wasn’t sure if a junkwagon that could be destroyed with a single kick was problematic, or if Zin, who destroyed the vehicle with a single kick was problematic. In any case, Zin was walking fast and away from Leona.

“Ah… man. Can you go slower?!”

“Quick. Follow me.”

Leona started rushing to catch up to Zin.

Even now, Zin or Leona didn’t say anything about the deaths that happened in Ard Point. They knew that there was no point talking about it since no one could come back to life.

In a sense, they were alike, and they both realized that they had something in common.

As if they would never return to Ard Point, the two left without turning back.