Taking the steel pipe from the car, Kazuma once again stepped onto the path up the mountain.
But his mood was now completely different.
Looking at this small path, Sato Kazuma felt as if he saw the two archers on the Wall of Lothric, or perhaps the welcoming boulevard of The Ringed City.
As soon as he, this poor little Undead, walked up, countless inherently evil ranged units would emerge to deliver a painful blow to his head, sending him back to the bonfire.
And going back wasn't enough; he would also be mercilessly mocked by Keli for not getting any information.
"Is it surveillance? Where are they installed? No, I should look for the place where they came out of the bushes before."
Muttering to himself, Kazuma felt that the other party discovering him definitely wasn't due to scouts patrolling the mountain. This wasn't Vietnam, where grass talks, trees talk, and even bushes talk.
It was possible that the other party had installed surveillance, allowing them to pinpoint his location.
However, Kazuma, that clever little devil, wouldn't swagger over again.
This time, he walked through the somewhat prickly bushes, hoping to find the path taken by the group of people who had attacked him from behind earlier. That should be a shortcut to quickly find the enemy's location.
There! Weaving through the bushes, Kazuma saw the spot where the people behind him had emerged when he died. There was a clearly discernible, though faint, path there. The other party didn't seem to have come from this direction.
To call it a path wouldn't even be appropriate; it was just a grassy trail formed by occasional passersby. Walking on the main road, it would be difficult to notice due to the overly lush spring wild grass.
There was no smell of blood here, so the other party shouldn't have dragged his body away from here.
Kazuma thought, enduring the back pain and bending over, moving as quickly as possible in a nearly squatting position.
Because it was an uphill climb and in this posture, his strength was depleted exceptionally fast. After more than ten minutes, Kazuma was almost exhausted, but as he got closer, he also began to "smell" that familiar scent.
Kazuma estimated that if there was a shrine one level up from the torii, he would probably be on the side of the mountain slope of the shrine.
It was not far, seemingly obscured by something.
Kazuma looked around the green area. One spot had obvious trampling marks, and nothing was particularly hidden. It was a small door with a makeshift shed built over it.
Though it sounds strange, it truly was a door built into the side of the mountain.
Supported by several connected stones and wooden planks extending from them, at first glance, it was only because the door was painted a similar color to its surroundings. If not for getting close enough to see the marks, it would have been truly unnoticeable.
Kazuma found this thing very strange. Having such a facility suggested that when they started building some secret facility, concealment was considered. However, now it felt like it no longer needed to be hidden, otherwise, they wouldn't even bother to lay a bit more grass in front of the door.
Kazuma tried his best to hide his footsteps and reached the door, only to find that it didn't even have a handle, just a hidden keyhole. So, Kazuma tried pushing it.
It didn't budge.
"The door cannot be opened from this side."
Kazuma felt like he was hallucinating such characters, so he regretfully gritted his teeth and turned to leave.
However, just as Kazuma tiptoed a few steps away, he suddenly heard a faint sound from behind him.
Not good! The person behind the door found me!
Kazuma did not choose to run, because he knew the enemy's weapon was a gun, and fleeing would be entering their favored territory.
Kazuma quickly took a few steps and crouched down to the side of the door.
Sure enough, immediately, the door was pushed open, and several people walked out.
"Quick! He ran that way!"
The person leading the group, carrying a hunting rifle, directly turned towards the direction where the door panel was after it opened.
And then...
"Clang!"
Kazuma brought down a steel pipe on his head, using all his strength.
Blood immediately splattered. The person who turned his head and was met with a direct blow immediately fell to the ground, his body twitching like a broken toy.
Kazuma gritted his teeth at the sight. In fact, he hadn't killed many people last night, and even this morning, with his psychological fortitude far inferior to Keli's, he hadn't dared to directly trick them into opening the door and then kill them.
He was quite timid, so he chose to directly use gasoline and set a fire!
His three deaths were all caused by others who couldn't stand it anymore and rushed out to fight him.
Later, after Keli discovered they were likely communicating by phone, he also chose this more efficient method. However, Keli also made sure the fire didn't spread to the house where Pochita was.
That was also considered the last resort to eliminate them if something truly unexpected happened.
After all, if they were allowed to develop like this, they would eventually come into contact with the higher-ups.
Watching their leader directly start a breakdance performance, the few who hadn't come out yet were also greatly surprised, rushing forward in a flurry and then aiming their guns.
However, even though they had seen him on surveillance and now saw his familiar attire again, the group was still a bit flustered.
Kazuma tried to swing his steel rod forward, but the opponent immediately opened fire.
"Bang! Bang!"
Kazuma felt his legs go weak and he collapsed directly.
"Ahhh!"
Because this time it wasn't a quick death, the pain made Kazuma cry out uncontrollably.
Even though Kazuma's current strength was greater than that of an ordinary person, he was still helpless against firearms, and it was even more impossible to avoid bullets with his reaction time.
Feeling his shattered and immobile knees, Kazuma fiercely swung his rod, but soon both of his hands were restrained.
"Monster! No matter where you came from! You're finished this time!"
Several people held Kazuma, and some even stepped forward and kicked Kazuma's shattered knee, causing Kazuma to scream in agony, tears even coming to his eyes from the pain.
The pain, like his brain was being scorched, almost brought Kazuma's thoughts to a standstill; the only thought echoing in his mind now was to immediately find a way to die, end the pain, and then revive.
But his rationality forcibly suppressed the thought; he was being dragged by several people towards the inside of the door, and he tried his best to open his eyes wide to see everything in front of him.
The interior here seemed to have lighting installed for the visibility of non-Vampire personnel.
The stone walls were polished smooth, and the unique musty smell of a basement assailed his nostrils.
"Got him! Got him!" the people dragging him shouted.
And Kazuma felt that after being dragged through a long corridor, his vision suddenly opened up.
It was a place that looked like an office with several small tables, and although it was in a cave, it was well-organized and even had electricity.
Kazuma glanced in the direction of the computer, which displayed some surveillance footage; Kazuma tried his best to remember the topographical features of two of the screens, and he even saw a small screen similar to a plantation. Then he was dragged to a room behind it.
Kazuma felt that as the blood loss became more and more severe, his limbs began to feel cold, and his mind became increasingly hazy.
He felt himself being dragged through another door, and then before him was a relatively spacious office area.
The sounds here were very noisy, and Kazuma, using his last ounce of strength, lifted his head.
What came into view was a scene under dim yellow lights, where many emaciated, ragged people were busy, and many metallic clanging sounds were constantly being made.
And in front of the door was a cross-like platform; he saw things like handcuffs and leg irons on the platform, and above the platform hung things like pliers, nail clippers, and small knives used to pierce ears or eyeballs.
Knowing that if he didn't act now, he would truly suffer, Kazuma, who was being dragged, suddenly erupted and slammed his head into the cross-like platform.
"What are you doing?! How are you dragging people!"
Listening to the increasingly distant voices in his ears and feeling that familiar emotion of numbness and peace secreted by a dying creature.
Three minutes later.
"Hmph! Damn it! How dare they treat me, Master Kazuma, like this!"
Sato Kazuma climbed out of the passenger seat of the car.
"Keli, is there anything usable left in the car?"
--+--
T/N: Although I'm an inexperienced Editor, I do have a Patreon account! Although it seems like I don't have many supporters right now, my webnovel will be released in full every day, and the advanced chapters will be uploaded to Patreon.
It may not be worth it now, but who knows, it might be different in the future. Who knows!
patreon.com/Greyhounds
If you want to see it, then why not?