The Little Prince in the Ossuary
Chapter 50

00050 — #signs–

# Signs (6) Atascadero

The next day, Gyeo-ul found himself at Atascadero once again to search for the missing troops. More troops, with additional support from the South, were deployed than the previous day. The support troops had arrived first and set up a bridgehead south of the city. They also brought reconnaissance drones to help with the search operation.

Soon, they found what they have been searching for. The missing men were walking aimlessly on the streets as undying dead men.

Thud!

A blunt gunshot then erupted. It was Gyeo-ul. He brought an infected soldier to rest. Considering the aesthetics, he shot the poor man’s heart, not his head. The infected body fell face down on the asphalt and convulsed.

“It’s a funeral for Bravo Company.”

Elliot, who was dragged out today to help with the search, is grumbling again. All of the missing troops in Atascadero were from the Bravo company.

“It is easy to locate those from the U.S. military, but how the hell could we identify the missing Chinese?”

Elliot’s complaint promptly made sense. Those infected U.S. military were easy to recognize because they were wearing their combat uniforms. Even from the aerial view of the drones, they can easily be spotted.

However, it would be hard to locate the Chinese refugees. The command has almost given up the seemingly impossible task, but fortunately, Gyeo-ul realized how to solve their problem.

“It’s not impossible. We can narrow the search down to Asian-looking infected persons and find those that have a tattoo.”

“Tattoos? Like the Red Mafia?”

The other soldiers felt surprised by Gyeo-ul’s suggestion. The Red Mafia was indeed a Russian criminal group whose members were known for their tattoos. Their tattoos were very detailed and could tell a lot about the person it was on, such as how many men they had killed, how many years they had spent in prison, etc.

Gyeo-ul answered back. “It’s similar. Most of the missing Chinese people are from Triads.”

The soldiers shook their heads. The Chinese Triad was a notorious criminal organization. It was shocking for them to realize that its members were among the refugees. For the members of the military who fought crime before the disaster, it was unthinkable to let these criminals join the general public once more.

Thus, searching for the missing Chinese had become even more difficult. Even if Gyeo-ul shared information, everyone, from soldiers to noncommissioned officers and officers, was passive in the search operation.

It was almost as if it was only Gyeo-ul who continued to search for the Chinese persons. Soon, every missing U.S. soldier had been identified, but there had been no progress in finding the Chinese refugees.

Regardless, soldiers admired the character of Gyeo-ul.

“He’s a hard worker, even though his nationality is different. I think you’re a great man in many ways.”

Despite the situation, Gyeo-ul devoted himself silently to the search. He focused on each mutant and shot them through their heads at first glance if they didn’t look Asian. For those that looked Asian, he tried to keep their bodies as intact as possible.

“We found one.”

Gyeo-ul, who had shot a bullet through an Asian mutant’s chest, tore its shirt open to show the soldiers. There was a tattoo on the corpse’s chest—a Chinese character engraved inside a triangle.

“What letter is this?”

Chinese characters were difficult for Westerners. For Gyeo-ul, there was no need for technical corrections.

“Hong. It means wide.”

It was one of the representative symbols of the Triad. The Triad had three branches – the Cheongbang, the Red Society, and the Black Society. In other words, these three organizations were meant to be together.

“So, the three dots here mean the first three organizations? Ha, that’s significant. How do you know this?”

It was a soldier’s question after hearing the explanation. Gyeo-ul answered moderately.

“China and Korea have similar cultures. I just happened to know.”

It was a plausible excuse. The soldier nodded, saying, “I see.”

The back and chest of the Chinese body were full of tattoos. Even for Gyeo-ul, he was not able to recognize all symbols. However, judging from its splendor, he could see that he was not a regular member of the organization. If only a dragon had been painted, it would be considered colorful but had no substance. However, there were distinct symbols.

‘This one is definitely an executive.’

Competitive organizations of the Black Society, which are engaged in a leadership battle with the Triad, were protected by Captain Markert, the first lieutenant. This was why Gyeo-ul concluded the Chinese missing as a triad.

Gyeo-ul had already guessed the impact of the Triad. Even so, they said they suffered a serious blow. If they had suffered losses of nearly 100, including executives, they would no longer be able to defend themselves.

When I go back, I think there will be a high probability of re-contact.

He lost his mind for a moment. A warning from the command headquarters had come through the receiver.

「Stop where you are. A group of infected mutants is approaching from the alley on the left of the front. There are about fifty of them. We haven’t determined if there are special and reinforced mutants among them.」

The soldiers immediately lowered their postures to prepare for sniping.

The first mutant died as soon as it came into view. Gyeo-ul didn’t even give soldiers a chance. He handled every mutant by himself, blowing them off before the others could even take a shot. Soon, there were fifty-three corpses piled up. It only took Gyeo-ul two magazines to finish them all.

Towards the soldiers, Gyeo-ul reached out to share the ammunition.

“Why are we here?”

It was Elliot who had grumbled and given his share. Instead of answering, Gyeo-ul asked different things.

“Elliot, don’t you think it’s weird?”

“Strange? What?”

Elliot chases the cockroach and asks back. Gyeo-ul pointed to the dead.

“They’re all adults.”

“What?”

“Don’t you remember the infected babies you saw yesterday?”

Not only Elliot but all the soldiers who were listening frowned. No matter how distorted it was, it was a baby. It would have been a trauma to shoot at it. However, Gyeo-ul did not bring up the story to bother the soldiers.

“There were so many babies yesterday; why aren’t there today?”

“Uh… that’s true.”

Yesterday, the infected babies had a lot of numbers. He couldn’t handle it with a gun and had to use a shotgun blast. Towards troubled faces, Gyeo-ul asked the same content and other questions.

“Why did [Trickster] call the babies out in the first place? If we were going to test our firepower, it would have been much better to call the adult mutants over.”

[Trickster] was a variant code of a special mutant dealing with radio waves. It was officially granted this morning. It’s a name that goes well with sneaky activities.

“What do you think, Lieutenant?”

“A generation gap,” Gyeo-ul answered immediately. The soldiers dazed for a while and busily caught up with the young lieutenant ahead.

“I don’t understand. What generation are you talking about?”

“Try to listen while you’re at work.”

Gyeo-ul then removed the clothes of the Asian male body. The soldiers who thought of the mission were scattered. Dead bodies are checked and asked again. What did you mean before?

“I find it strange that so many babies pop out in groups. From what I can tell, it looks like the mutants are breeding.”

“What the f….”

Elliot swallowed his curses because he knew he was in front of an officer. The hardened soldier mumbled.

“Uh……maybe. They depend on human function, so it’s not impossible to conceive. Oh, my God….”

Gyeo-ul talked about his idea.

“This is my hypothesis. [Trickster] is not about not calling the saints, but about not being able to do it.”

The quick-witted soldiers then trembled. Gyeo-ul confirmed their concerns.

“Yes, that’s it. A better child than his parents. A new generation of abilities. [Trickster] is a special mutant of radio waves. Newly born mutants, at least, may have the ability to receive radio waves.”

“Is that even possible?”

A soldier asked back. When confronted with a terrible reality, they wanted to deny it.

“Isn’t that a good chance? Actually, the [trickster] doesn’t make sense. “Have you ever imagined a creature that shoots interference waves at the frequency of biological electricity?”

“…”

“Don’t make that face. If you’re always prepared for the worst, you won’t have to despair no matter what happens. At least that’s what I think.”

Yes, it was the wisdom of life obtained at a young age. Gyeo-ul was considered the worst in his life. He never expected anything from his parents.

Elliot then spoke seriously.

“That certainly makes sense. We need to report to the top.”

“Don’t worry. But I still have to hand in the report.”

Gyeo-ul identified nine more Chinese bodies, and there was even a place where cockroaches were particularly crowded. They scattered when he shot a few bugs.

He had gone with the soldiers and looked around. A soldier then spoke up.

“Airborne emergency food wrappers.”

It turned out to be Bulk. At least a few dozen servings. No matter how hard one was to look at it, they would think that it had been opened recently. It didn’t seem to have flown away under the weight of a swarm of insects.

“Maybe it was the last supper of the missing people.”

Elliot’s voice had a sad feeling. Gyeo-ul shook his head inwardly. However, this time, he didn’t say anything.

#Unread messages (3)

「Владимир: The first experience I experienced through the barrier of Active X was the terrible sensation of cockroaches crawling through my body.」

「Active X fuck you: Ha…….」

「Yeomin ROCK: It was a real, horrible experience. I can see why [After the End] is minor.」

「United with Buddism: Did you feel the touch when you caught Jeffrey’s character? The feeling of crunching when it’s crushed. Terrible, huh? Guys, this is the weight of killing.」

「Electronic anklet: Go away, mont.」

「SALHAE: What the hell was he doing? The cockroaches are sticking together. What’s the matter? I’ve been knocked out.」

「Storm 224: I know. I wanted to faint.」

「Friendly OUT: Beasts. Then turn off the synchronization.」

「Retirement youth: 22222222」

「Hogut-ho-gugut: 3333333」

「Doochi: Yeah, why are you sticking around like a dead man」

「Jjalapapa: It didn’t work out as I wanted…….」

「Storm 224: Agreed. I couldn’t do it.」

「Ppukku: Why? Why not? System error?」

「SALHAE: What error? I just didn’t want to be distracted, fuckers」

「Ppukku: Why? Why don’t you like it? Are you proving that you’re stupid?」

「Ackta: Do you prove yourself stupid? You sound like shit.」

「Friendly OUT: You don’t even know how to explain it; you don’t know how to vent your anger out on others. 」

「SALHAE: Friendly, you bastard. Do you really know what immersion is?」

「SALHAE: I just want to forget that this is not true.」

「SALHAE: People like you who see things as superficial will never understand after a hundred years.」

「まつみん : Everyone, why are you fighting? After having such a great experience.」

「AngryNeeson55 : ……good experience? 」

「Ackta: Oh! It’s Matsuming! Hi!

「まつみん : Hello! 」

「Frank sausage: Hello, Miss Sex Diplomat! It was so quiet that I thought you left!」

「Kim Jung-eun fucker: More than that, Matsuming, what did you mean by that? What do you mean, a good experience?」

「Magnacarta: Is Matsumming broken again?」

「まつみん : It’s not! It was literally a great experience!」

「まつみん : I synchronized with the cockroach!」

「Puppy: Huh? What is this sound?」

「Old Spice: Was the cockroach a synchronizable object after all?」

「The Grapes of Wrath: Oh, my God.」

「まつみん :: That’s right! Only the visual and smell are synchronized, but that in itself was enough!」

「まつみん : peeking into Gyeo-ul’s underwear! The smell of Gyeo-ul mixed with sweat! Snink snink snink snink, sniff! Oh, Matsumin can die now! はあはあはあはあはあはあはあ#!%$@#%」

>

「Magnacarta: It’s broken in the end…….」

「Passport please: Roach synchronization, I never imagined it.」

「Hogut-ho-gugut: What kind of drug did he take to think like that?」

「まつみん: Excuse me! Matsumin didn’t do any drugs! I just read the sensory synchronization manual! Everything is in the manual!」

「AngryNeeson55: It’s even more surprising that you’ve read hundreds of unkind pages.」

「Spelling: That’s true.」

「 Don’t make funny nick: I didn’t think anyone would read it.」

「The duty of defense: I didn’t even know there was such a manual.」

「まつみん : Hmm! The Japanese are meticulous!」

「Angry Grapes: I want to have a girlfriend like that…….」

「SALHAE: But it doesn’t help.」

「SALHAE: Can you be immersed in bugs? It only makes the gap bigger.」

「SALHAE: I want to be the main character.….」