Saiyan stowaways on the Ark

"You guys have been playing all night."

"I've been 'played' for days..."

The Kingslayer, lying face down on the sofa with his face buried in the cushions, spoke weakly.

"I'm quite surprised that you managed to escape that red wolf's pursuit, although it's even more surprising that you're now living on Rhodes Island."

Lappland had already started the game, shaking the dice back and forth like a professional gambler, listening to the sounds as she spoke to the grieving kingslayer.

"It wasn't that I escaped her pursuit; it's that if she didn't have that old hag's mission, she would go to sleep on time every day, which is why I was able to run away... Damn it... She kept pulling on my tail until she fell asleep..."

"And they don't even give you water or food. Remember to pay me back double for the pokeys you ate."

If Texas hadn't gone out into the hallway for some fresh air last night because she couldn't stand the noise in her room, she wouldn't have noticed the dying Kingslayer lying on the street.

"Okay... as long as you don't hand me over to that devilish Little Red Riding Hood."

The kingslayer gave a thumbs-up while maintaining that gesture, then tried to fall asleep in the noisy room.

"And that Tomat guy... the Rhodes Island operator, right? Tell him to wait, he's made me suffer so much here..."

"It's a pity he's away on a business trip, otherwise I could have seen your head being smashed into the floor—ah, it seems the floors at Rhodes Island are much harder than cement, you should think twice."

Lappland warned the Kingslayer, who had become arrogant after not being beaten for a few days, while simultaneously causing the three dice to stack together instantly upon being released from his hand, resulting in a combined score of only one.

"Hey, this game is based on points, showing off your skills is useless."

"...I'm used to it."

Rhodes Island & Lungmen Joint Rescue Team

The journey from Lungmen to Chernobog takes several days. Although Tomat, who was in the group, could have gone to the destination much earlier, he chose to stay with the caravan and spend the next few days with his fellow travelers.

Whether for better or worse, the carefree Tomatt wouldn't think too much about Rhodes Island on his way to Chernobog—but he was, in turn, missed by some.

Just like some other operators who also started from Rhodes Island and were missed by those left behind.

Perhaps it wasn't a profound emotion, and Tomat himself didn't do it intentionally, but he still managed to leave others with a different impression of him in a world.

Not a destroyer, not a minion, and not an enemy.

It was just an impression of "a man named Tomat".

[Main Text] Chernobog, Amidst the Ruins: Chapter One - After That Day

Chernobog, officially known as Chernobog, is one of the large mobile city-states of Ursus. It is the site of the discovery of the mysterious device "Stone Coffin" and is also a region where non-Originium energy is used. However, due to the recent emergence of a large number of unauthorized independent activities, it has been warned multiple times by the Ursus royal family.

Later, due to the destruction of the core city's power zone, it was unable to escape the disaster zone in time and was destroyed by the disaster's Originium rain. At the same time, the infected riot that occurred in the city—the "Reunion Movement Riot"—completely shut down the city's functions and turned it into the organization's activity center.

However, it was destroyed by a second sudden natural disaster a few days later. The city's infrastructure was devastated and could no longer function. The situation of the rioting groups and the remaining people on the site is unknown.

As one of the countless city-states on Terra that could be destroyed at any moment, the destruction of Chernobog did not cause much of a stir. Perhaps it was worth paying attention to for Ursus, but for most people, it was just a piece of trivial information that could be overshadowed by other news in no time.

After all, here, there are only Ursus people and infected people. Apart from the concerns of their own people, not many people care about where the dangerous source of the disease will go.

Except for a certain local organization in Chernobog—Azazel.

Azazel, an underground clinic for infected individuals in Chernobog, is a place that exemplifies the saying "where there is oppression, there is resistance." Even within Ursus territory, Chernobog is one of the most severe cities in terms of its treatment of the infected.

But no matter how much the infected were oppressed and executed, those who secretly united and refused to sit idly by, and the ever-growing number of new infected, survived this suffocating persecution and built a unique network of activities for the infected in the underground of Ursus.

They provided aid to the wounded and sick, and also supported the rebels.

The unrest in Chernobyl, while escalating tensions, also presented them with more opportunities to change the status quo.

However, the leaders of the underground clinic did not seem to choose to support either the Reunion Movement or Rhodes Island, which were both infected organizations, but simply chose to remain neutral during the initial riots, preventing the scales of that battle from tipping in anyone's favor.

As a result, they remained in Chernobyl, continuing to operate their vast underground network, only their targets shifted from the original Chernobyl military and police to the Unification Movement, which sought to forcibly recruit combat power.

But in the end, no one emerged victorious in this new battle.

Because all of Chernobog's power, along with the city itself, was annihilated on that day—

Time: The night at the end of December 1096 in the Terran calendar, the night Chernobog was destroyed by the "Cataclysm".

Location: Azazel, an underground clinic

Just as the ancient underground transportation tunnels that remain in Ursus are extensive and interconnected, Chern, as a city-state of Ursus, also imitated that structure by setting up a similar transportation network inside the mobile platform.

However, after the sarcophagus provided Chernobog with a continuous supply of new energy, Chernobog left the Ursus region and stopped connecting with other cities. The underground passage, which served as a means of rapid travel between city-states, was also abandoned, becoming a desolate and uncontrolled area. It was here that Azazel gradually grew his own power.

"Mr. Herag, please take a look. This is a report on the recent activities of the Reunion Movement above ground."

His body was tightly wrapped in tattered clothes, making it impossible to discern his racial characteristics. He looked like a drunken vagrant who could be seen anywhere on the streets of Chernobyl. He carried a document into a tent on a relatively open platform in the underground passage.

The tall, white-haired, silver-bearded Li Boli nodded, took the document, and then carefully reviewed the information recorded on it.

Despite his completely white hair and beard, Liboli, known as Helag, showed no signs of aging in his upright posture and sharp gaze.

The robes of the Ursus military officer should not have appeared in this place that deeply resented Ursus, but when they were draped over Hrag's body, they became a battle robe that aroused everyone's imagination.

Although Hrag himself never explained it, people still believed it to be a symbol of war, perhaps belonging to some Ursus noble's henchman—and then it disappeared forever by Hrag's sword.

"The Sarkaz mercenaries and most of the Reunion Movement members are concentrated in the core city area." With his gloved fingers tapping on a thin sheet of paper, Hrag, as the leader of the organization, was analyzing the Reunion Movement's tactical arrangements. "Apart from a very small number of stragglers patrolling various areas, only the guerrillas seem to have received direct orders to advance towards the periphery."

This is not a wise strategic consideration; it is clearly a move to eliminate dissidents after achieving the objective.

Moreover, Hrag's deep understanding of his old friend—the ancient Wendigo leader of the guerrillas—led him to conclude that his stubborn friend would sooner or later be ostracized by the scheming leader of the Reunion Movement.

"What should we do next...?" the Azazel member responsible for relaying the message asked, his voice filled with worry. "Hospitals, supermarkets, and other supply depots have all been looted or occupied by the Reunion Movement. The same goes for places that had agreements with us to provide supplies. The number of conflicts with the Reunion Movement over resource gathering is increasing..."

If you don't join, you're the enemy. Even if the Reunion Movement members show some leniency towards the infected, the Sarkaz mercenaries who come with them won't. Moreover, the enemies now are different from the Ursus military police of the past. In the past, as long as you dressed like a civilian, you could walk around the streets undetected. Now, you can only hide underground, which is more restrictive than before.

"Including those who were rescued, the members have mostly moved to the underground areas on the outskirts of Chernobog, right?"

Herag stepped out of the tent and looked at the crowd of people gathered on the underground platform. There were never so many people in Azazel before, but when Chernobog fell completely, they began to receive new infected members while advancing towards the outskirts of Chernobog.

Although the underground of Chernobog is their native stronghold, it is not wrong for them to prepare to change locations or even leave Chernobog for safety reasons.

After all, this is just an underground relief organization rather than an armed group. The vast majority of people are just ordinary people who are oppressed and willing to resist. Even if there is a need for fighting, it cannot be guaranteed that everyone has the ability to fight.

"Yes, but the fact that the Reunion Movement has deployed guerrilla forces in the border regions with combat capabilities far superior to regular personnel... will that actually restrict our operations even more?"

The messenger who accompanied Hrag to the tent did not question whether Hrag was lacking in consideration, but with the large number of infected people received, Azazel's resource consumption had increased significantly, and it was his duty as one of them to be concerned.

"I'll handle the guerrilla situation. In short, we need to gather a lot of supplies soon, and we need to leave this city that is about to be swallowed up by the war."

Helag had already foreseen that Chernobog would become an even more complex battlefield in the future.

Continuing to operate in such a place will only cause all the hard work to be destroyed by the atrocities of war.

There's no need for mutual destruction. As long as they can continue to exist, the aid organization called Azazel won't fall so easily.

Fighting each other is always the worst possible strategy.

Despite what Herag thought, in the next moment, he seemed to see a scene from his military career, where he was surrounded by Silver Spears and Pegasus in the fortress on the battlefield of Kazimir.

—However, it wasn't the fortress that was pierced by the silver-armored Kuranta's lance, but rather the underground passage, dozens of meters deep, that was torn open by a massive visible impact, creating a huge gap large enough to see the stars in the sky.

He could even feel the entire city-state he was in being propelled forward by this impact.

The gale swept into the platform, easily sweeping away their tents and various facilities, even blowing people away. The surrounding area began to collapse, and the steel building materials now fell in large chunks like rocks after being hit by Cerato.

However, the screams of the people could only be drowned out by the loud noise of the mobile platform being forcibly pushed across the ground. Everyone present could only watch their compatriots flee in terror amidst this horrifying noise.

However, Hrag rushed to the very center of the platform, his tall body nimbly dodging every person who was thrown into disarray by panic. Just as pieces of the building were about to fall into the crowd, he raised the Ursus military coat he was wearing.

"Full moon".

The massive nodachi was held in both hands by Hrag, and the rounded slash trajectory emitted a light far surpassing the starlight scattered on the platform, while the impact formed a pure white moon, which covered the entire sky above the platform.

Each piece of building debris, weighing several tons, was suspended in mid-air briefly by the impact of the slash before breaking into two pieces.

Then, amidst the noise, Herag swung his sword through the air while shouting at the top of his lungs:

"Get everyone away! To a safe place!"

Each time he landed, it was blocked by Herag's slash. However, no one else present had the same motor skills as him, so he could only stay in place and keep launching attacks until all the old, weak, sick and disabled people left the platform area.

The stamina consumed is directly proportional to the range of the slash.

Even with a sword still sharp, human strength is still limited.

The gap torn open by the impact continued to drop debris from the moving city-state as it shook, and each piece of rubble that hit the platform where Hrag stood would be unimaginable.

Even though some of Azazel's members could help Hellagur by putting some resistance to the falling behemoth, his earlier, forceful commands made it clear to them what their primary task was.

Some people were knocked unconscious by the impact, while others huddled in the corners of the platform, too afraid to move. Still others ignored the instructions and ran around aimlessly on the wide platform. However, with the help of the members of Azazel, the last infected person with mobility issues was carried out of the platform and rushed to the unaffected underground passage area.

"Mr. Helag! Everyone has been rescued!!!"

However, just as they were about to notify Hrag to come to them, the entire underground passage collapsed, and the massive ruins separated Hrag and the Azazel personnel from each other.

The continued shaking made the remaining people afraid to stay in the collapsed area for long. They could only believe that Hrag would not be killed and lead the rest of the people to a more stable area.

After an unknown amount of time, the tremors stopped, and the strange impact that had propelled the entire sub-city no longer forced the bottom of the moving platform to operate and run across the land.

The original platform was also buried under the ruins. On these building fragments that had been cut into pieces, the silver-haired old man Liboli knelt on one knee, his hands folded and supporting himself on the nodachi whose blade was almost completely embedded in the ruins.

The crack above bathed him in moonlight, like a spotlight shining on a heroic protagonist before the curtain falls in a play.

Herag adjusted his breathing, slowly stood up, shook the dust off his coat, and pulled his nodachi from the ground, sheathing it.

He looked up at the sky, where he could now see the crevice between the stars, but where he could now see the half-full moon.

"They actually swung their swords for so long."

The roads leading to the location of Azazel's personnel in the area have been blocked.

Directly destroying the obstructing ruins could trigger a secondary collapse, and his current physical strength does not support him continuing to use powerful slashes.

Then Herag would have no choice but to go to the surface, find another underground entrance, and then reunite with his companions.

Cutting down a massive building is not feasible right now, but carving out steps into steep walls is more than enough.

And that huge crack just happened to be a good exit.

But when Herag arrived on the ground, the first question that came to his mind was, "Where am I?"

It's not that mobile platforms have arrived in some unseen place.

Instead, the so-called ground was devoid of any trace of the original city buildings, with only a few dilapidated steel frame outlines burning with molten iron dripping from them.

The environment, as smooth as if harvested with a sickle, once boasted rows of towering Ursus buildings. The unobstructed view even allowed Hrag to see unnatural depressions and radial impact marks on the ground in the distance beyond his city.

He had seen what the border city of Sami looked like after a saturation bombardment by Ursus naval guns.