Trash in the Apocalypse

Chapter 356: Visitors from the South

The Great Walls protected was finished in a matter of days. They stood erect and regular carriers and Hunters would have a hard time climbing the walls. The wooden gates were the only weak point of the walls and unless they were able to innovate how to make a movable solid iron gate, it would remain that way.

The garrison members have the task of defending the territory from all threats. They guard the Cemetery Dungeons and make sure the summoned carriers' numbers are low. so no dungeon breaks occur. 

Aside from that, other members were permanently stationed at the Red Portals to guard against invasion attacks and welcome random strangers,

Additionally, they regularly visit the outskirts of the territory to make sure that no bandits would live off the territory. 

Being a garrison soldier was a tough job, but it was the easiest path for owning high-quality equipment. Since garrison soldiers were prone to battle, the management supplied them with quality equipment to make sure they survive any encounter. 

Strangers who come and go were awestruck with their attire and weapons giving the boring job a sense of pride. 

At the eastern part of the territory, on one of the garrison's routine checks, they suddenly encountered a group of survivors wearing casual modern clothing and big enough to fight a small horde. 

They could easily pass off as raiders if it weren't for their innocent appearance, together with the rifles hanging on their shoulders and pistols attached on their sides.

Anyone who has survived for this long cannot be innocent. Either they killed someone or helped in killing someone. These people appeared like a friendly group of churchgoers armed to the teeth.

"Please stop where you're at and introduce yourselves."

The garrison unit spread out and stood in formation. The shieldbearers in front and the bow-users at the back. Shieldbearers have different main-hand weapons depending on their tastes. Some had swords while others hand spears.

"Woah, woah, calm down little chicks. Why get excited when we're here to trade? My name is Jay Herrera, the leader of the Golden Piglets. We come from the south and we brought goods with us."

"How would I know that they don't like people from our town, eh?" said Jay to his members as they were locked inside a building for observation. Officers from the Monitoring Department surrounded the building, watching over them.

The moment he finished introducing himself, the garrison soldiers turned more anxious and became extra aggressive. They were asked questions and the more answers he gave, the more difficult the situation became.

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After getting placed in observation, he found out that towns and cities on the southeast were rumored to be filled with survivors leaning toward slaughter. The orders were to detain and investigate any group or individual coming from that direction. 

Since he was from the place, he could guarantee that it was a winner takes all in most cities, but there were a few exceptions. Unfortunately, it was not his town. 

Still, through cunning and innocent face, he managed to build trust and successfully established a trading band. Taking advantage of people and hoarding resources made him rose to become an independent power. 

In times of famine, anyone who has the food was the lord. In times of poverty, whoever gives out the most money was the saint. There are different kinds of power and they could be easily grasped if you have the correct mindset. And he found his calling at that time, a friendly loan shark that everyone could go to, until the time that they can't pay back anymore.

People who were conned were put into service and become his goons. After accepting their fates and finding that working for him was a better way of life, they fully conformed to their roles in the new society. Several people tired of slaughter also joined him and now his group had eighteen people. These are the only people who survived after every battle and each had skills different from the other.

"It looks like this is really the place that old man told us. Every fighter is geared with excellent equipment and rules were already set in place for citizens to follow. If we can get to partner with them then we will be rich in no time! The south would become ours!"

A muscular guy grabbed the man's neck from behind and pulled him back to reality. "It's now 'we', my friend. Please be careful with your words since unlike most people, some of our members don't like getting associated with useless people like us."

Currently, more than half of their current numbers were volunteers who renounced killing. It means they were veteran fighters who hate useless people who failed to even protect themselves. Survivors who can't guarantee food on the table and were forced to submit after failing to meet their payment period.

The useless baggage could be counted in one hand and mostly used for extra storage and miscellaneous work. 

Jay ignored his subordinates most of the time and tried his best to gather as much information as he could.

He managed to find out that the soldiers that they met on the outskirts of the town were different from the ones guarding outside the building. 

In the distance, the citizens could be seen casually walking around with no worries on their faces. There were no signs of issues commonly found in the outside world. It was as if the walls separated these people from the threat and grim reality outside.

The more he saw, the heavier his jealousy becomes. His face turned dark and he started biting his lower lip, planning something in his head.

Several soldiers came by and introduced themselves as people from the Monitor Department. They were in charge of welcoming newcomers and doing basic checks.

Igme Brooks gathered everyone to the center of the room and made them sit on the floor. 

"I'm Igme Brooks, the officer who will conduct filter checks to see if everyone can gain temporary access to the town. I want everyone to cooperate fully, so we could conclude this quickly.

"Raise your hand if you have committed these actions and we will give you an opportunity to turn around. If you don't raise your hands, and we found proof that you lied, we are authorized to hunt you down."

Igme coughed and started the filtering.

"For starters, raise your hand if you have killed other survivors before."

The Golden Piglet members frowned upon hearing such a question. Still, the core members raised their hands, while a few timid individuals kept their hands down confused at the situation.

Igme repeated the question once more and gave others the chance to reconsider their answers.

When everything was set, he moved on to the next question.

"Raise your hands if you raped anyone before. Any sort of forceful intercourse, as long as the other party isn't willing."

This time, the topic was too personal and a core member of the group decided to question the officer. "What is this? I thought the interrogation already ended earlier? Heh, will you kill me if I did really raped someone in the past?"

Igme stared at him and nodded his head. "Yes. Usually, I would kill you right now, but I don't want any blood on my hands today, that's also one reason why I'm giving opportunities today.

"Our territory condemns vicious sexual acts such as rape, while advocates fighting for resources. Killing isn't frowned upon in the territory since it's a skill needed for survival. It's just that you have to be careful about who you touch since they may have powerful people behind them."

"Consider us giving face to your backers. We aren't scared of them, but making unnecessary enemies out of nowhere has never been one of Black Haven's priorities."

"And please don't speak like that while in the territory. Some hardcore veterans might just kill you on the spot if they hear you speak like that. Let's continue..."

After rounds of filtering, the liars were kicked out of the territory while their friends who passed the assessment were allowed a temporary stay in Morong.

Though liars were already rampant in the territory, being able to cleanse newcomers, especially dangerous ones, will always be a good thing. 

Jay told them to find a safe place for now, and they'll meet in the evening. 

Igme introduced the basic rules to Jay's group, followed by the currency used in the territory. The new currency isn't available to temporary visitors since granting them access to vast amounts of information would be detrimental to Black Haven. Once they register for citizenship and sign the binding contract, that would be the only time they would be allowed to gain a personal account card.

Just like how every newbie needs to exchange goods for obtaining their first account cards, temporary visitors can only use items to trade. 

When everything was settled, Igme assigned several surveillance monitors to watch them.