28

At the village

3rd Pov

After a few minutes later, Leo and the other finally arrived at the village. They saw 2 people with makeshift spears guarding the entrance. Sasha looks at the guards and nods at them indicating to let them in. They pull back their weapons and let us into the village.

"Here we are 'visitors'. Welcome to our village." said Sasha as they go inside the village

Leo and the others looked around the village and saw lots of destroyed houses, injured and starving people. The atmosphere around the whole village felt depressing and sad.

"As you can see, our village isn't in the best shape right now. For the past 5 months, we've been scavenging for food and trying our best to keep the people safe. Unfortunately, a lot of our people have died from those monsters and some are even barely clinging to life right now." said Sasha sounded depressed

"This village..." said Kuro as he looks around the area and sounded a bit... sad?

"Did you say something, Kuro?" questioned Leo

"It's none of your concerns captain," said Kuro sharply

"It's this bad, huh. Jeez, what the hell really happened in here?" questioned Cole

"All of your questions will be answered later but right now we're gonna meet the chief of this village. Follow me," said Sasha

After that, Sasha led them to a big building that says 'City Hall'. At the entrance of the City Hall, there is a big buff man with white hair and wears blue pants and is shirtless.

"Hey there dad, I'm back from my scavenge," said Sasha

"Ah, I see that you're back. How was the scavenge? Did you find any food or resources?" said the man who is now revealed as Sasha's father

"We did find some food but unfortunately it's not a lot. It probably would only last for a day or so. However, we did stumble upon a group of 'visitors' while returning back to the village." said Sasha

"Oh? Let me guess, behind you are the group of visitors that you've mentioned?" said Sasha's father

"Yes. Everyone, meet the mayor and leader of this village, Abner Lawrence or in short my father," said Sasha

"Hello there, Mr Abner, my name is Leo and it's a pleasure to meet you." introduced Leo

"Observe." thought Leo

Name=Abner Lawrence

Age= 58

Alignment=Good Lawful

Level=30

Hp=55,000

Strength=3500

Perception=2650

Endurance=3100

Charisma=4500

Inteligent=3000

Agility=2600

Luck=2500

Name=Sasha

Age= 21

Alignment=Neutral Lawful

Level=26

Hp=50,000

Strength=2600

Perception=3600

Endurance=2750

Charisma=2900

Intelligent=3010

Agility=3800

Luck=2890

"Not bad. Those are some decent stats." thought Leo a bit impressed

"The pleasure is all mine. Now visitors, why did you come to our island? Our island isn't well known for anything and it's weird that people such as you come to this island." questioned Abner

"For now, let's just say that I've heard rumours about this Island and we got curious. So now that I got here, my first impression on this island, it's pretty fucking depressing," said Leo

"I'm sorry if you think about it that way but our village isn't in the best shape right now. You people must have lots of questions by now. Don't worry, I'll try to answer them the best I could." said Abner Lawrence

"Yeah, well that's what your daughter said before," whispered Leo to himself

"Anyway, let's go to my office. I'll explain everything that you need to know," said Abner as he started going inside the City Hall

"Well? What are you people waiting for? Let's go inside." said Sasha as she and the others started going inside the City Hall

Inside the mayor's office

Once they got inside, Abner goes and sit on his chair. Everyone follows suit and Sasha shuts the door.

"Sorry, my office is a bit of a mess right now. I hope that doesn't bother you at all," said Abner

"Eh, I've seen worst," said Leo as he looks around the office

"Anyway, with that out of the way, now we can talk more privately. Now tell me, what is the real reason that you and your people came to this island," said Abner as he suddenly got serious

"I already told you, we-" said Leo only to get interrupted

"Don't try lying to me, kid. I wasn't born yesterday. As I said before, our island isn't that well known and it's really weird that people like you come here especially those who don't look normal," said Abner

"Now I'll ask you again, why did you come to this island and how did you know about it? What purpose do you serve on coming to this island?" said Abner

".... Alright fine, I'll tell you the truth. I didn't think that someone would actually know that I was lying. It's either I'm getting rusty or you're good at detecting a lie," said Leo

"Anyway, long story short the real reason as to how I know about this island is that some guy injected a weird serum in his body and turns into one of those monsters. We won and I found a diary that tells about a virus called The Monstrum Virus. I found out that the virus came from this island." explained Leo

"However, I wasn't wrong about wanting to explore this island. I really did want to know more about this island," said Leo

"Okay, then where is this guy diary at? Is it with you by any chance?" questioned Abner

"Yeah, it's right here with me," said Leo as he gets the book from his inventory

"Before you guys say anything, I know that you wanted to see this book. However, if you want it then I want something in return," said Leo

"... Fine, what is it that you want," said Abner

"Great. Now, start explaining what happens to this island. You still haven't explained anything about it. What happened?" questioned Leo

"I knew you'd say that. Okay, this is gonna be a long explanation so make yourself comfortable," said Abner

"It all started 6 months ago, all off the villager were doing their business and as mayor, I was doing some paperwork. It wasn't that long until a guy by the name of Ajax comes to this village with his group. He told all of the villagers to bow down and submit to him. At first, everyone just laughs at him saying that he was an idiot. That was the last thing that happened until disasters struck." said Abner as he started sounding solemn

"Ajax snaps his finger and all of a sudden, those monsters suddenly came to the village. They started attacking the villagers and destroying buildings. It all happened so fast and quick. Weirdly enough, the monster wasn't killing a lot of people. No, rather than doing that, they were capturing the people. All of this happened while Ajax and his group were standing there smiling evilly. Oh, I still remembered that smile till this day." said Abner

"And that's what happened, for the last 6 months, we've been trying so hard to keep this village safe from those monsters and we've been trying to survive by scavenging for food in the forest," said Abner

"Now, do you have any other questions that you need to ask?" said Abner

"Yes, how many leaders do you have in this village?" questioned Kuro

"Well, there's me who manage the village, there's my daughter Sasha right there who manage the Scavenging team and there's another person who manages the Medic team. His name is Berlin and he's my son. Don't worry, you'll meet him soon enough. Any other question?" said Abner

"How are you people able to survive this long? You guys, can't just have been scavenging for food in the forest?" questioned Kuina

"I can answer that question for you. It's true that the people in the village can't have survived this long and some unfortunately starved to death. However, on some occasions, we were lucky enough to steal a crate full of food and medicine from Ajax men. At the same time, we lost some good people trying to steal some food from them." said Sasha

"Then why don't you guys just leave this Island?" questioned Cole

"We can't. All of the ships are docked on the other side of the island and Ajax took all of them. Plus, it's not that easy to just leave our island. I mean we were born here and this island means so much to us." said Sasha

"Alright, then why don't you guys just call the Marines or something? Why not get outside help?" questioned Alex

"We would have done that if it wasn't for the fact that our communication system is gone. We don't have any transponder snails and even if we do have one, what then? Are the Marines even gonna believe us if we say that monster suddenly came to our village and attacked us? Plus, I highly doubt they could even save us from this mess. These monsters aren't something to joke with." said Abner

"Fair enough considering that I've been seeing nothing but incompetent Marines," said Leo

"Any other question you want to ask?" questioned Abner

"Nope. Now as promised, here's the diary," said Leo as he puts the diary on the table

Abner picks up the book and started reading it.

"....So, they already named those monsters. The Monstrum Virus, huh." said Abner

"So, Leo. Now that you know what happened to this island, what are you gonna do now?" questioned Abner

"Yeah, by any chance do you have any money left in this village?" questioned Leo

"Captain..." said Cole

"No. All of the money has been stolen by Ajax. Plus even if we have any money, it would be useless." said Abner

"So, where is this Ajax guy exactly? Does he have a base on this island?" questioned Leo

"There's an abandoned factory on this island that hasn't been used in years. Ajax was able to reopen that factory and used it as his Mother Base," said Abner

"Not only that, but he was also able to set up some mini bases around the island. My group and I were able to scout some of them while trying to steal some supplies." continued Sasha

"Hmmm, okay. So you're telling me that he kept every money in his Mother Base, right?" questioned Leo

"Yes... where are you going with this," said Abner as he narrowed his eyes

"Alright, it's decided. I'm gonna help you and your people from this Ajax guy," said Leo

.

.

.

"Huh?!" said both Abner and Sasha

"I'm sorry but did I hear that correctly? You want to help us," said Sasha

"Yup," said Leo

"...Alright. But at what cost? You must want something in return? You can't just help us all of a sudden and doesn't expect to do it for free," said Sasha

"Well, how about this. After I beat Ajax and his monster, I'll take everything Ajax has as my reward. Which mean I'll take his money, his virus, his technology and anything that is worth valuable. You can take the factory though since it's really useless in my opinion." said Leo

"What?! Ajax stole all our money and you want to take everything that he has! That's outrageous!" said Sasha

"Hey, it's either that or we'll just leave this Island and continue doing our normal routine. Your choice," said Leo

"Alright but even then can you even best the monsters on this island. These monsters aren't your average people. I've seen what they can do and I almost died trying to kill one of them. Plus there's like thousands of them and we're not even counting the animals yet." said Sasha

"Heh, sorry Sasha but we're not your average people. Not to brag or anything but we're strong enough to beat those monsters," said Leo

"But still-" said Sasha only to get interrupted

"I'll accept your request," said Abner

"Dad! Are you serious about this!" said Sasha

"We don't have a choice, Sasha. One day we will either die from those monsters or get captured and by Ajax. We can't hold the fort much longer. Our people are starving and injured. As much as I hate to say this, we need their help." said Abner

"However, I'll accept your request under these conditions. 1) You're gonna help all of the people in this village by scavenging or rebuilding the broken houses, 2) Do you have a doctor in your group?" questioned Abner

"Right here, sir. I'm the doctor of this group," said Alex Mercer

"Then can you try and help the people who are injured?" questioned Abner

"As long as you have the equipment and supplies then I'll try my best on helping the injured," said Alex Mercer

"Good enough. Now 3) You will not hurt my people by any means necessary. Finally, 4) As long as Ajax is still or haven't been captured yet, you will listen to my orders. So, do you agree with my conditions?" questioned Abner

"Done deal. As long as we get our reward then I have no problem with your conditions. However let me give you a warning, my crew will only listen to my orders, not to you. So if I say that I want to kill you then you die. Next time, don't try to order them around cause that's my job. Did you get that?" warned Leo

"... Fine. As long as you help us then I don't care." said Abner

"Good. Now if you'll excuse us, we gotta get back to our ship," said Leo

After that Leo and the others started to get out of the room. The only one that's left is Sasha and her father.

"Dad... do you think that was a good idea hiring these people?" said Sasha

"I don't know, Sasha. But let's just hope that they're true to their words. Cause we're gonna need as many help as we can get." said Abner

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Hey there guys. It's me again. I'm sorry if this chapter is short or felt rush or is just plain bad. It's just that I've been busy lately with helping my family pack up our things into moving out on our new house and I almost didn't have time to write this chapter. Add to the fact that I still have lots of unfinished schoolwork to do then yeah it's been stressing me out lately. So next week, I won't be able to post another chapter.

Don't be alarm though, that still doesn't mean I'm going to stop writing this fanfiction. I will still write the next chapter but for now, let's just call it a temporary hiatus. I'll post the next chapter in another next week or after my family and I are done moving out. So I'll see you guys in the next chapter.