421 The Group of Raiders, Expectations Turning into a Nightmare (1/2)

Day 73 - 10:32 AM - Mansion, Padilla, San Jose, Antipolo, Rizal

A hundred and two kilometers away from New Infanta Settlement, this mansion could be found.

It was a mansion previously owned by a business tycoon. That was what he was known outside. A kind, rich man who had several blooming business and several volunteer foundations.

Not known to many, in the underworld of this country, the very same person was known as a smuggler. Drugs, weapons, and even people, he could get them in and out of the country without problems.

He had a bunker under his mansion. This bunker served mainly as his storage for his wares. The items he smuggled from outside the country. Despite being a rich person, he was extremely fearful of suffering losses. That was why he made a tightly hidden bunker just for his underground business.

However, the bunker did not only serve as secure storage for his wares. It also protected him, his family, and trusted people from dangers outside. Being wealthy on the surface and well-known in the underground market, various threats were aiming for his life.

When the apocalypse happened, however, the man was on a business trip to meet a client in Southern Luzon. Being caught in the middle of the apocalypse away from his trusted mansion, he perished along with his guards.

As for his family and employees in the mansion, they all perished in a quite similar fashion. The only difference was...

His family and trusted employees were already dead. The wealthy man, however, was still roaming the infected streets as a Mutated Infected.

There was no one else left in his mansion. His supplies and weapons were left in the bunker for the taking of anyone lucky to stumble upon it.

In this case, it was Mark's group that was returning from Bay City settlement several days ago. Since they did not have enough capacity to carry everything, they could only leave more than half of what they found inside the bunker.

Because of that, however, it became a sight for the sore eyes of someone envious.

\”Is this the place?\”

A man with a solemn aura around him stepped out of his vehicle in front of the mansion. Just by the looks of his face, it was easy to tell that he was not a person to be trifled with. He asked that question as he glanced at the man still sitting inside the vehicle.

\”That is right, sir. This is the place.\”

The man inside the vehicle nodded respectfully.

Hearing that, the solemn-looking man signaled towards the other vehicles in their group, making everyone not designated to drive go out.

The man with a solemn aura was known by the alias Combustion. The leader of the survivor group called Hell Bombers. It was a group that was known for their delinquent members.

They belonged to the survivor groups based in New Infanta Settlement. While they did follow the rules and regulations of the settlement, it was different outside where the law was already nonexistent. They were known for blackmailing and forcing people to hand over parts of their loot, calling it a protection fee.

It was a group undesired by most people in the settlement. However, it was also risky to confront them. Among their thirty members, half were Mutators, and the remaining ones were Evolvers. Furthermore, it was known that three of their Mutators, the leader and his two henchmen, were double ability Mutators.

A Mutator was already rare in a sense, not to mention one with two abilities. And for some reason, three of them gathered in this group of unlawful bandits.

This time, they were here because of the tip their newest member gave. The man inside the vehicle that Combustion asked earlier. As he went out of the car to show everyone the way, his face was open for everyone to see.

It was no other than Harold.

Harold already left his group filled with useless baggage. He wanted to lead a group of strong individuals, similar to what he saw when they were being escorted to the settlement.

Unfortunately, Prince was already as good as dead while Kate did not follow him. Still, no matter how frustrated he could be, he knew his limits.

There was no way for him to convince anyone to join his group easily. And thus, he thought of a plan. He decided to join a group that even the military would have a hard time dealing with. He would climb the ranks, and even if he did not become the leader immediately, he would have enough authority over the group.

He would make each member trust him as much as possible. And when the leader suddenly died, it would be easier for him to take over that position and eliminate opposition.

For the first step, it was to sell the group some valuable information. After all, who would be able to resist a large amount of supply and weapons lying around for taking? Once they managed to retrieve those supplies and weapons, his value in the group would surely rise rapidly.

\”Boss! The gates are locked by some kind of black metal! We can't break it.\”

One of the men trying to open the gates called out to Combustion.

The leader also checked. This was the first time he saw this kind of very strong metal. The lock that jammed the gates surely made it hard to open it without actually breaking the gates. Furthermore, he assumed that his ability would not be able to destroy this lock at all. Nevertheless, it also made him assured that something valuable could be found inside the mansion for it to be locked in such a manner.

\”Clear the way.\”

Combustion spoke which made the others run away from the gates immediately. He then searched where the hinges of the gates were located.

\”Pui!\”

Taking a step back, he spat on one of the hinges.

Then...

\”POM!\”

A fist-sized explosion occurred once his saliva landed on the hinge. From the explosion, the hinge was damaged immediately. He then moved onto the next hinge and did the same.

Combustion got his alias for a reason.

His mutation made his saliva explode after it was exposed to some elements in the air and the surroundings. The most common catalyst that could make his saliva explode was metal. Furthermore, as the explosion caused by his saliva was more of temperature than impact based one, it was very effective in melting metal in an instant.

Because of this ability, that alias stuck onto him easily.

POM! POM! POM!

After several small explosions...

BAM!

The whole gate fell down with a loud deafening sound.

After the gate fell, the other members around immediately carried the gate out of the way. Then, their vehicles drove in without hesitation.

Of course, they remained cautious with their surroundings. They had their weapons ready for any confrontations that could happen.

On the way here, they had to fight some Mutated Animas, Mutated Insects, and Stray Infected. It was not that easy to reach this far from the settlement. Furthermore, they had to pass by several towns which hindered them further.

They left the settlement way before sunset to reach this place and arrived just now. That was how far this place was and how time-consuming the journey they had.

In their minds, Harold should better be telling the truth or just their current fatigue was enough to make them beat him up senseless.