Beware of Hidden Monsters

But no one asides from me knows what I have been up to, and the Major does not take very kindly to my comment. Not a surprise there.

The Major and most of her men head deeper into the vault, trying to locate the source of that smokes, no doubt. The same black smokes that have invited everyone here in the first place.

I am in no hurry to find out, as I am too busy stealing everything within reach.

Oh right. It is not stealing. I am merely borrowing all the priceless items without the intention of ever giving them back, and since the Major does not trust me to be on my own for whatever reason, I have a couple of babysitters with me, watching my every move. Not that I care.

But they do make it difficult for me to interact with the System and check my Status Window. I should have reached level 8 by now, and at that level, I can finally set up a Trade Network.

Every early level of my Merchant class unlocks or grants me something, mostly in terms of new abilities and skills but not always. The Systems usually informs me what have been unlocked every time I level up, but for an unknown reason, it has remained completely silence.

Good thing that I do not need the System to inform me, as I already know what each level unlocks, all the way to level 1000ish. Getting to that level is going to be an insurmountable task.

Anyway, having a Trade Network allows me to travel between every Vendors or Establishments, which are unlocked at level 3 and level 5 respectively.

I have not set up any vendors yet, as it is hard to find customers when everyone is trying to stay alive within the Life Zone. I will set up a vendor at the military base if possible, as there are plenty of people there. They might need supplies or commodities.

By the time that I and my annoying bodyguards catch up to the rest of the group, the Major is towering over an elderly man who seems to have the power to make black smokes appear out of nowhere. And from his uniform, he appears to be the gardener of the museum.

He is not responsive to anyone or anything. He is merely sitting there and creating back smokes every now and then. The smokes are sucked by the ventilator shaft above, leading out of the building.

"He is gone, Major," one of the soldiers notes after examining the elderly man.

The elderly man isn't dead, but his mind is gone. The only thing that he remembers is call for help, and it is due to that, he might have indirectly caused the death of countless others. And what has fried his brain also puzzle me.

It is not because I do not know what, but rather, there are simply too many things that can do that to him. Of course, if I have to guess, it is probably a Brain Slug, and to confirm, I would need –

A gunshot interrupts my thought, and brain matters splatter all over the floor. But instead of red blood, it is green, indicating that the elderly man was a monster. Or he was going to transform into one. Well, he would have if the Brain Slug manages to take over his mind completely.

The Major lowers her handgun and then sets the elderly man alight before leaving the scene with the men following. I shrug at that and eye the brain matter, trying to make out the tiny Brain Slug.

It is probably one of the most annoying parasitic monsters, as it can take over the host completely.