521 The Fate of the Raiders, An Encounter with Someones Relative (1/2)

Day 127 - 6:40 PM - Hamilton Commons, Mays Landing, Hamilton Township, New Jersey, United States of America

The battle between Gregor and Mark ended with the former escaping with two of the most important people among the raiders.

That end, however, left the remaining members fearing desperately for their lives. And like how narrow-minded they were, in their minds, they started blaming the three that managed to escape for the demise that they were facing.

There were a lot of them left. Nevertheless, no matter how many they were, they could only feel that they were no less than ants at the enemy in front of them.

In horror, they could only watch at the enemy caught one of them on his neck and scrape his bloody face hard unto the cement. Even in this darkness, they could distinguish the bloody color left on the ground as the face of their comrade started to thin horribly. The skin on both his cheeks was gone. Even his nose and lips were torn to shreds.

That was when they realized, the guy stopped moving.

Mark lifted the guy up. Sure enough, he was already dead.

”Tsk.” Mark clicked his tongue. He failed to control his strength and ended up crushing the guy's neck accidentally. The guy died too easily. He was lucky.

Mark turned to the others, causing them to flinch. The unsightly death of their comrade in his hands was enough to give them a deep mental scar. They all wanted to flee. However, without the capability of flight like Gregor, there was no way for them to leave this place.

The only thing that they could do was to wait for their demise while watching the man in front of them.

Mark, on the other hand, seemed to have another idea.

”You, you, you, you...”

One by one, Mark pointed at eleven people. Each of them could not help but shiver as they were pointed out. After all, they were the guilty ones of what Mark said before. They were the lookouts and curious ones that lingered the roof, ogling at Mei this afternoon.

Mark then smiled.

”Those I didn't point out, let's play a game.”

Everyone became silent by reflex. As bloodthirsty raiders, they were not new to this kind of term. Giving their victims a chance to live as long as they were entertained.

”The ones I did not point at, you will be the hunters. The others were targets. The hunters can bring me an eyeball of those the targets, I'll let them leave this place alive.”

Hearing that, the ears of the others perked up while those that were guilty of the crime started to back off.

”S-sir... Will you really let us go if we did what you just said?”

One of the raiders bravely asked Mark.

”I'm not like you people. I will keep my word. One person per eye. I will not kill them and let them leave.”

”Oh, by the way...” Mark added. ”Take their eyes without killing them. Remember that.”

They heard what Mark said. Nevertheless, their bloodshot eyes did not waver. What was in their minds was solely their own survival. They would follow what Mark said to live, disregarding the heightened difficulty of the task.

”Well, then. You guys can start now.”

Mark said as he walked out of the way. He climbed the back of the military jeep to oversee what was happening.

And there, the chaos ensued.

Everyone readied their weapons. Although this time, they were aiming for their own comrades.

The guilty ones immediately grouped up while retreating. They had the same circumstances at the moment. It was better for them to stick their backs at each other.

While they retreated, they did not hesitate to fire at the others, forcing them to hide and take cover.

Mark watched the play with a smile. With the rules he gave, barely anyone would manage to live.

All of them had guns. However, the group aiming for the eyes would not be able to use their weapons to their maximum efficiency. Mark said that they could not kill the targets. Thus, they could only aim for their arms and legs.

On the other hand, the targets could kill anyone as long as they could.

Because of that rule, even though the hunter group overwhelmed the target group with numbers, they could not get any advantage. More than that, since they had more people on their side, it was expected for them to have a lot of casualties.

PLOP!

As Mark was just thinking of it, the first casualty appeared. One of the members of the hunters was shot directly on his forehead as he tried to peek out of his cover.

Despite that, however, that guy's death did not matter.

One death meant one less competition. There were only eleven targets, twenty-two eyeballs. Only twenty-two people would be able to leave this place.

A mutator among the hunters used a different tactic and circled the targets. He succeeded and got a clean shot on one of the targets. However, the shot hit the target's head, causing him to immediately die.

Nevertheless, the Mutator did not care. Using his dirty hands, he scooped out the dead target's eye.

But then... before the Mutator could rejoice... His view spun, and he managed to see his headless body holding onto that bloody eyeball he took. That was the last scene before everything went black.

Everyone froze. They saw Mark appear behind the Mutator and sliced his neck off. He then caught the head and like magic, put it in a black hole in front of him.

”As I said, take their eyes without killing. The eyes from a dead target will not count. One already died. Only ten targets remain. Meaning, only twenty might be able to leave this place alive now.”

Hearing that, the nervousness of the hunters grew. They stamped clearly in their minds that they should not kill any of the targets. Not only that they would die, but even the quota would also decrease.

Because of that, the hunters became careful with their approach. On the other hand, the targets managed to get a breathing room.

As the raiders were concentrated in the battle, none of them realized that Mark already entered their base, leaving them on their own.

Mark really did not have much interest in watching the chaos he created. And rather, he wanted to see what he could loot in this place. Besides, he could monitor them without watching using his [Empathic Detection].

And another thing, aside from that Jersey Devil, he was detecting another person of interest.

The person was not like Gregor, though.

Without a doubt, the person he was detecting was human. The person was not a psychic or an inheritor either.

In fact, Mark was not sure about what he was detecting and wanted to confirm it first.

Following his [Empathic Detection], he ended up at the very same building that Kesser and his henchmen used. The whole place was dirty, and garbage could be seen everywhere.

Ignoring the unsightly appearance of the interior, Mark continued walking.

Along the way, he managed to encounter some raiders hiding.

Not all the raiders in the building had gone out, after all, and some hid inside the mall instead.

And those that hid, Mark killed them without mercy.

Soon, he arrived at what seemed to be a staff room of the mall. As he peeked on the glass window on the door, he could see that the staff room had already turned into a prison cell.

Mark broke the lock and entered through the door.