Chapter 136 - Monster Lair (2)
The cruel sun beat down the barren wastelands, it's one malevolent eye unblinking, and the sky was its co-conspirator, there wasn't even a wisp of cloud to soften the harsh rays. No one would've believed this region was hit by a rainstorm just a few hours ago.
The small lizard-like monsters took shelter in the shadows of the rocks where the sand was not hot enough to roast them. The air was thick and hazy, taking a breath seemed like drowning in lava, and among all this noise of a single car, engine tore the silence and laziness of the wasteland, in all its might. The noise of the car attracted the monsters but the man driving the humvee didn't care about anything else, other than quickly reaching his destination.
He just had to reach and help his summons, no he didn't need to help his summons, they were already sufficient to handle the monsters. What he truly wanted, was to verify one of his theories.
'I'll cancel my summoning as soon as I reach there. I can't miss this chance to test whether the monsters I kill myself without the help of my summons would count towards the headhunter quest or not...' Arnold thought and stepped on the gas, 'At least I ordered Allen to keep Amanda busy otherwise she would've sent an entire armada with me. Tsk, that would've been too much work.'
The moment Arnold had stepped into the hummer, Talos had shared his location with him. Being the Section Chief, no one asked him any questions like where he was going etc. In truth, they were just scared that Arnold might kick them out if they pissed him off, just like the Ex-Brigadier General, that's why most of them kept to themselves and simply saluted him if he crossed by.
However, there were a few curious souls who still approached Arnold and asked where was he headed to, like the security stationed at the gate. Honestly, Arnold didn't have any issues with them prying about him as long as they didn't go out of their way to cause him trouble. Also, he already had an answer ready to shut them up, "I'm just going out for a ride to clear my mind, I have to leave now if you don't mind."
And that was it, no one having even a single brain cell, asked him anything after that.
"Come on! Can't you move any faster!"
He still had to cover a distance of 22 kilometres and top speed of the vehicle was 100 kilometres per hour but since he was driving offroad hence the speed had reduced significantly, it was about 92 kmph.
"Of course! I could just enhance it myself! All the points I invested to increase my intelligence and I'm still an idiot..." He mumbled and placed one of his hands on the dashboard of the car.
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You are using [ENHANCEMENT] on High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle [HMMMWV (humvee)].
Due to the effect of [Perfectionist] title, the probability of permanent enhancement is increased by: 6%
Total probability of permanent enhancement: 22%
ENHANCING...
ENHANCING...
ENHANCING...
[ENHANCEMENT] SUCCESSFUL!
All attributes have been increased!
Horsepower increased by: 15
Current Horse Power: 165
Max Speed: 121 kmph
Acceleration improved!
BUFF: Horsepower, speed and sturdiness of the vehicle increased.
Bonus effect :
Sturdiness increased by: 10%
Off-road control increased by: 15%
Duration: Permanent buff.
<User's rank is too low. Effect of the skill will be adjusted accordingly. >
<Overall rank increase in rank has been limited.>
___
"Tsk. If it was still the normal world, I'd have launched my own range of sports cars by now, hehe." Arnold smiled and stepped on the gas. The Humvee roared even louder after Arnold's successful enhancement.
***
The floor of the cave was littered with blood and corpses. Red, black and blue were the new colours of what was once a maroon coloured, heavenly adobe, a radiation-free zone in the middle of the wastelands. It was a location no one knew about not even monsters or the military. That's why the nomads decided to live there.
Existence of nomads in the wastelands was not unheard of. Obviously, the military had tried their best to persuade them to stay near the military bases so that they can offer them safety but the nomads simply refused, saying this was their way to repent for the sins of humanity, however that made sense. After some time the military stopped trying to persuade them and leave them be, as they had more important matters to take care of.
The nomads happily lived inside the cave until one month ago when a group orcs stumbled upon the cave and decided to take shelter inside. The nomads were weak, and despite the best of their efforts couldn't fend off the orcs. The cave which was once referred as 'Heaven's blessing' by its occupants, had now become the stage of a terrible battle.
After the orcs won and killed all the males including the children, a few of them left to contact their leader while the others remained and feasted upon the women... forcing themselves on them and having their way with them till they were sexually satisfied.
It only got worse from there on... as the entire tribe of Orcs soon for back to the cave and established it as their base. The women were exploited again and again by them until they impregnated them and then killed them.
The air which would have normally carried the delicate scents of flowers and fruits was now heavy and thick with the scent of smoke and blood, the mere whiff of the smell would've made you want to run away. The women continued to be playthings for orcs until out of nowhere another group of monsters appeared. But this group was peculiar... the new group of monsters consisted of an odd bunch of robots, humans and whatnot.
The army of Orcs and the army of mixed warriors and monsters soon began fighting with each other without any sense of reason, but it was yet to be determined which side had the winning hand.
The dead among the orcs were scattered across the floor while the faces of the ones who were still fighting had adrenaline rushing through their bodies. Some have succumbed to bloodlust and are carelessly charging any enemy without a care for their own safety, endlessly swinging their weapons desperately trying to kill each other while others long for the end of this battle.
With the uncertainty of battle coursing through their minds, the other side courageously fights their enemies with the hope of being the stronger side. Needless to say, the second army was the army of Arnold's summons, with Talos leading them, they were continuously trying to subdue the orcs but they had to hold back a bit as none of them wanted to injure the humans, even by accident.
Most of the orcs were easily dealt with however it was their leader and a few other orcs close to him, that were causing the most trouble.
"If I transform into the human form I might be able to subdue them for a while. Until master arrived." Talos mumbled and then transformed into Jake, the necromancer. The next moment dead skeletons raised out of the bowels of gel to aid him in his battle against the Orc king.