Marauder of the Apocalypse-Chapter 72: Expert

The first stage of the operation was reconnaissance. Check the enemy's forces and security level, build trust and familiarity as friendly neighbors, and identify weak points to strike.

It seemed simple but couldn't be approached carelessly or half-heartedly. This was like laying the foundation before constructing a raid. One mistake here and everything would collapse.

That's why I brought our entire marauder group along.

Night had fallen on the darkened street of streetlights.

Only one streetlight worked properly while the others had wires dangling down, with people clinging to them like moths drawn to light.

"Move when you're done charging."

"Hey, no cutting! Got a death wish? Who said you could cut in front of me? No, you know what? Go ahead. Stand in front. Let me see that pretty back of your head. I'll smash it real nice."

"Can we really charge today?"

Quite a crowd had gathered - there must be many areas without power. The heat seemed to be making people irritable. Arguments broke out, and people shouted into phones they were charging.

'Perfect. Crowded and dark enough.'

I gestured subtly from the shadows. My marauder companions spread out through the chaotic street.

The reconnaissance plan was already set.

Do-hyung would investigate their electrical technology as our electricity thief. Park Yang-gun would scout infiltration routes and weaknesses as our thief and robber. Sa Gi-hyeok would make contact using his con man's silver tongue.

Though they couldn't build or fix things, my companions were skilled at wrongdoing.

My job was simple - observe the overall situation and atmosphere, then make plans.

I looked around pretending to be a casual observer. The city's situation could be gleaned from the many conversations.

"Do you have any antibiotics? My child has diarrhea and is dying from dehydration."

"We don't handle medicine here. Try Life Tower."

"I can't trust those crazy people spreading poison in the streets..."

Someone with a sick family member asking the electricity nomads for antibiotics.

"Can I trade batteries and lighters for food?"

"Only accepting food for phone charging. Ask someone else about that."

With the military markets gone, people gathered for charging were bartering amongst themselves.

From the shadows, I counted the writhing masses with disgust.

'How many people are there? Like cockroaches. How are so many still alive?'

People survive even when civilization falls. Their tenacious will to live was on display before me. This wasn't even lawless - they had their own rules and functioned as a small society.

No war of all against all or bloody brutal conflicts.

It made me doubt myself. Had I been wrong? Even in an apocalypse with depleting resources, couldn't people join hands to survive?

...No. A commotion broke out. I quickly turned toward the shouting.

"Hand over the food!"

Word of the electricity nomads' business must have spread - raiders had come. Three of them. Their clothes were stained brown from muddy water, and their machetes and hatchets gleamed white in the streetlight.

The electricity nomad standing guard at the entrance sighed deeply.

"Ah... raiders again."

"Give us the food! Who are you to use government streetlight power anyway? My tax money paid for this!"

I quietly observed their standoff.

The raiders' faces were gaunt like starving men, cheekbones jutting out. Their skin was damp with sweat from the heat.

Though the electricity nomads seemed physically better off, they appeared less well-armed and desperate.

'Hope those raiders put on a good show.'

I gripped my hammer while watching the electricity nomads. If the raiders acted up, I could see how the nomads responded - their armed forces' numbers, weapons, response methods and timing.

"I can take a lot, but complaints about electricity..."

The guard-like nomad muttered while reaching toward a nearby streetlight. His eyes seemed to flash with electric blue light.

Click, the sound of a switch. The three raiders convulsed and collapsed into a puddle, letting out strange screams.

'Electrocution?'

I recognized it from experiencing police tasers. Though weaker than a taser, this was definitely electrocution. I quickly looked around and found the nomads' trap.

A deep puddle at the entrance. Wires submerged in the water.

Just like the traps I set in the villa district. As I created an environment to run people over by blocking sidewalks and clearing roads, they'd deliberately created puddles to electrocute intruders.

The electricity nomads' clothes took on new meaning. I'd thought they wore boots because of the rain, but those were insulated safety boots. Their gloves looked insulated too.

The nomad muttered while watching the screaming raiders:

"Must be the makeshift transformer. Output's too weak for quick kills."

"Urk, ack!"

The raiders splashed in the shallow puddle. They'd try to stand, only to fall face-first into the water again, bodies convulsing from the current.

It was waterboarding and electric torture combined. Then traditional torture was added.

The electricity nomad took three spears with nails and stabbed each raider. The current in the water flowed through the nails into their bodies.

That was the end. The raiders became corpses, the switch was flipped to cut power, and the electricity nomads efficiently cleared away the bodies.

Silence suddenly fell over the street.

I blinked, finally realizing what I'd carelessly overlooked.

'Nomads.'

Though I'd coined the name temporarily, they truly were nomads wandering in search of electricity. And nomads were naturally strong.

Moreover, these were people obsessed with electricity to the point of madness. Not like me forcing myself to be vicious, but natural monsters embracing insanity.

My brief thoughts of cooperation vanished.

'Force and viciousness really are best after all.'

***

Back at my villa home, I discussed with my fellow marauders. We shared information to find a way to get masks.

"Learn anything useful?"

"No. Looks like the street isn't their base. It's just their workplace for trading food. They keep resources at a separate residence."

Park Yang-gun shook his head. We needed to investigate the electricity nomads' actual base more.

Turning to Sa Gi-hyeok, he seemed somewhat frightened. He spoke hesitantly in a small voice: freēwēbnovel.com

"I talked with people who came to charge, and these electricity sellers sound pretty dangerous."

"Why?"

"Raiders have attacked the street several times but were all repelled. They even tracked fleeing raiders with drones and burned down their bases."

Fire? Arson?

My jaw dropped. Were they truly insane? Raiders who left only destruction and death? In a world where even firefighters had become raiders, starting fires that could spread through the city would kill everyone.

For the first time, I felt chills from someone else's madness.

"Electricity addicts..."

I couldn't understand their thinking. Not just electricity, but burning places down over a mere streetlight operation, not even their base.

It seemed beyond mere viciousness - I didn't want to mess with them.

Yet a competitive spirit rose in a corner of my mind.

'I can't lose either.'

Give ground once and you keep giving ground. As the city's competitors grew more vicious, I had to advance too.

At that point I looked at Do-hyung.

"Didn't you investigate anything?"

"I know nothing about electricity, how could I investigate?"

Fair enough. That made sense. Thieves only stole the end product, not caring about the production process.

Do-hyung continued:

"I asked how they make it, but they wouldn't tell me. Said they just figured it out studying books and winging it, couldn't really explain."

"They learned to modify streetlights just from books?"

Sounded like lies. They must have an electricity expert among them.

I fell silent in thought before clapping my hands and standing.

"It's late, let's end here for today. Think of ideas for raiding the electricity nomads' masks by tomorrow."

My marauder companions nodded obediently and left.

Alone in the quiet room, I huddled in darkness refining the scenario over and over. Thinking from the electricity nomads' perspective, plotting strategies, comparing arms, preparing various options.

Gradually the scenario took shape and outline.

"People obsessed with electricity. Cut their power and they'll move seeking more."

The electricity nomads' clear weakness. Using this weakness, I could control their movements. And if I could control their movements, I could make them walk right into my trap.