Rise Of The Hoarder

“I know what you’re thinking, Lara. But, do not worry. There is a time for everything…”

Just because I left the Camp members to clean up Kevin Smith’s mess didn’t mean they were off the hook forever.

Besides, they had lost so much. It was only fair to give them some time to grieve and pull themselves together.

“We have other businesses to attend to, you know? The scavengers are a group of collectors with ‘Evil’ Alignments. It’s only fair that they have some supplies and weapons stored in here. It may not be much, but we can use whatever we find later on. Plus…”

I hadn’t forgotten about the men I had kept in my [Subspace]. Now that I was far away from prying eyes, I could finally take my time with Kevin Smith and his surviving accomplices.

It wouldn’t be fun otherwise.

*******************_.

We explored the whole building, carefully looking out for traps.

Thankfully, I had interrogated the sniper beforehand, gaining practically all the information I needed on their base. The sniper—Gerald—was actually a high-ranking member among the scavengers.

That made things easier for me.

Thanks to the guy divulging all the necessary information to me, Lara and I were able to locate the treasure trove of the villains in no time at all.

“Demon Cores, some decently made weapons too… hmm, some are even enhanced. It seems they have an enhancer among them…hmm, is it a Gift or a Skill” I mumbled.

My tone was that of curiosity as I rummaged through all the scavengers had.

The fact that they had enhanced weapons made me slightly curious. If there was a Gifted with Paul’s abilities, probably a higher grade, then it could prove a bit interesting.

‘Hopefully, it’s a Skill, so I can just use <Steal> to get it for myself.’

After checking through everything, I didn’t see anything worth much. The Demon Cores they had were also low-end ones, only useful for fodder bombs at this point.

‘Well, it’s still better than nothing…’

On our way here, we had seen some pretty interesting things, stuff like human parts. It made me wonder if these men were cannibals or simply savages who enjoyed the sight of rotting flesh.

If these people were so depraved as to enjoy the death of their fellow humans, the least they could do was to actively hunt down more powerful Demons.

Other than their leader, none of the scavengers had much power. Of course, I knew it was partly Kevin Smith’s fault. But, if only they had been more proactive in exterminating monsters instead of humans, they would have been more powerful.

“Huu, this is the last of it…” I muttered, collecting the final Demon Core into [Subspace].

Lara remained silent behind me. I noticed she had already reached Level 100, a very impressive feat considering it hadn’t been very long when she was so weak. We had also gotten quite familiar with each other that conversations became natural.

I could sense the reason for her decorum this time, though. The woman was most likely trying to figure out the reason behind my actions. It didn’t make sense for someone like me, someone who prioritized my advantage over anything else, to go out of my way to save the Subjugation Squad, help them grow stronger, escort them safely to the Camp, and finish things off. Then, after all that… simply leave!

Usually, I would have a twist at the very end and turn things around for my benefit, but the fact that I abandoned the idea and left quietly meant I had something else up my sleeves.

Of course, after she inquired about the matter, and I assured her there was indeed a plan, I had calmed her down a bit. Still, someone as curious as Lara was bound to still keep thinking about it.

‘Well, she doesn’t know about my deal with Charles concerning the farming project.’

Plus, since I didn’t mention the (G) Karma harvest to her, there was no way she could decipher why I had been power leveling the Camp members. It was best to keep her in the dark about some things, so I didn’t bother illuminating her ignorance.

Since it was evening already and quite a lot of things had happened, I decided it was time for the both of us to rest.

We made our way past the sleeping quarters of the scavenger footsoldiers and went straight for the place that would be more comfortable… the room of the top brass!

‘I have no information about it since according to the sniper, only the leader and vice leader are allowed inside…’

Still, with the <Insight> Skill and my heightened perception, I wasn’t going to fall for any crude traps. We arrived there in no time, and I hastily unclocked the door.

Immediately after I opened the door to the leader’s office, a foul stench greeted me. My sense of smell spikes, causing me to feel unimaginable disgust for a few moments before acclimating to the change in environment.

Smells of rotting flesh, dirty laundry, blood, and what was that… cigarettes?—filled the air. It was so pungent that I had to step back out for a few moments and enter once more.

I had mentally compared Charles’ neatly arranged office to the scavenger leader’s own, but I realized my mistake almost instantly. While the room I now stood in was very much larger than Charles’ domain, it was too dirty and unkempt.

‘As expected, that Kevin guy was really a savage!’

“Are we going to stay here? I’d rather just choose any other room…” Lara retorted, disgust visible in her expression.

Who could blame her after witnessing all this?

Still, if the leader’s place was like this, it was guaranteed that everywhere was filthy. Besides, we had already scoured most of the locations of the building… it was a dump!

At least the leader’s office was larger and would be more comfortable to stay in.

“Yeah, we’re staying here…” I said, turning to Lara.

It just needed a little makeover.