Chapter 83
HA\LF: Dead nor Alive
âWhat is this place, this looks totally different from the Western and Eastern Nations,â Archie talked to himself as he looked at the operating tall buildings and trains above the roads. âHow did they get all the energy to turn the city with this much electricity?â he continued as he looked at the city lights and the people walking on the sidewalk.
Archie kept walking and was fascinated by the views that everything looked so peaceful that everyone could walk around the city like that. He watched restaurants on the side and people were eating something that he had never seen before, everyone looked so happy.
âHey, you!â A black-haired guy with a bun leaned on the wall and called Archie. âYou look strong, want some easy money?â He asked as he looked at Archie from top to bottom.
âEasy money?â Archie asked as he looked at him.
âYeah, do you need some money? By the look of the swords on your back, youâre a rich guy, huh?â He asked back.
âNot really, someone made it for me,â Archie answered.
âHmm, so? Do you need some money or not?â The guy asked again.
âSure,â Archie replied since he didnât have money on him and the Eastern Nation didnât even have a money system so everyone used a trading system.
âHah! I knew that Iâm going to find the right person for this job,â The guy said as he stood straight and offered his hand for a handshake. âMy name is Ivan, nice to meet you,â he continued.
âArchie,â Archie said as he shook Ivanâs hand.
âHuh? I see that youâre not from around here,â Ivan said as he looked at Archieâs face. âAnyway, come on, I will show you what kind of job that you have to do,â he said as he waved his hand and walked into the dark alley behind him.
Archie followed Ivan from behind and looked at all the neon lights on the walls or in front of the doors. âSo, how do you guys get electricity?â
Ivan turned around and looked at Archie weirdly. âAre you being serious right now?â
âYeah, Iâm being serious, how did you get all this electricity?â Archie asked as he pointed at the neon lights. âI mean, I know that we can get electricity from the sun, wind, and river, but that wonât be enough to light everything in this city if you guys just using that,â he continued as he looked back at the city.
âWhat are you talking about, Archie? We donât use those anymore, we found a way to get electricity faster than those. All those methods that you said, we didnât use them anymore since, I donât know, five years maybe?â Ivan replied as he looked dumbfounded by Archieâs words.
âI see, sorry, I just got here so I donât know and it surprised me how things have changed,â Archie explained while he looked at Ivan.
âHuh? What are you? A caveman? Where do you come from then if you donât know that things have changed?â Ivan asked while he kept staring at Archie weirdly.
âEastern Nation,â Archie answered.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Ivan stared at him for quite a while and then snicker and then bursted out laughing. âYouâre fucking with me, right? Thereâs no way you came from the Eastern Nation!â he said while kept laughing.
Archie just stared at him with a straight face and then Ivan cleared his throat and looked at him with a serious expression. âYouâre being serious? How did you get here? Donât you lose access to the bridge a long time ago?â he asked.
âWe use ships to get here, we docked at the abandoned port far in the northeast,â Archie answered.
âHoly shit! Youâre not joking, right? Did you guys encounter that thing?â Ivan asked with curiosity written all over his face.
âWhat thing?â Archie asked with his eyebrows furrowed.
âThis thing,â Ivan said as he grabbed something from his pocket that looked like a phone. âHere, look at this, they discovered this like the moment before the bridge collapsed,â Ivan said as he showed footage of the king that he fought wrapping his body on the bridge and then crushing it.
âOh, that, yeah we did fight with it. I killed it,â Archie answered with a straight face.
Ivan bursted out laughing again. âYouâre so funny, Archie, I like your sense of humor!â
âIâm not joking, you can see the corpse on the shore at Saint Lawrence Island,â Archie answered.
Ivan stopped laughing and gulped while staring at Archie. âShit, what the fuck is happening right now?â he asked while scratching his nape. âSo, are you like, superhuman or something? I mean, you must be an Axis Human if you can deal with that, but, are you some kind like a warrior that specifically hunts parasites?â he continued as he looked at Archie with confusion.
âWhat are you talking about, Iâm just a normal Axis Human, like any other Axis Human,â Archie answered.
âBut, youâre from the Easter Nation, right? You must be living in hell since youâre isolated by waters and three fucking Fallen Continents!â Ivan said while staring at Archie with disbelief. âAnyway! Letâs just go and youâre perfect for this job then,â Ivan continued as he waved at Archie and started walking.
Ivan brought Archie to the basement and he looked around where people walked past him with multiple sacks that they carried in a wheelbarrow. He looked so confused why there were so many people who brought those heavy-looking sacks with an unpleasant smell from it.
âYou were asking me how we got all this electricity, right? The answer is in those sacks,â Ivan said while pointing at the sacks in front of him.
âWhatâs inside those sacks?â Archie asked with his eyebrows furrowed.
âFeces,â Ivan answered without hesitation.
âFeces? Thatâs really interesting. How does it work?â Archie asked as he looked at those feces.
âYou know that feces produced unpleasant smells, right? Thatâs because of methane, and we discovered that we can used feces to produce electricity from that. Isnât that awesome?!â Ivan answered with his arms open wide.
âI see, so you want me to collect feces?â Archie looked at Ivan with disbelief.
âOh, no, that spot is already full since itâs the easiest job here. Youâre going to do the hardest job here,â Ivan answered. âYou know that human feces is not enough to run a whole city, right? So we also use feces from different things,â he continued while grimacing.
Archie hummed with understanding because he had been suspicious about sense he felt ever since he came down there. He felt dozens of parasites inside the building and they all seemed to be in a same place.
âYou use parasites feces,â Archie said before Ivan could say it.
âWow, youâre so smart and not to mention youâre not even surprised by it,â Ivan said while grinning at Archie.
âSo what do you want me to do?â Archie asked as they both entered a room.
âWell, do you see that parasite over there?â Ivan asked as he pointed at something in the dark behind the see through glass wall.
Archie hummed and saw a big parasite that had been glaring at them ever since they entered the room.
âYou see, we had someone for this job, but an accident happened. You know the answer by the shoe that you see in there, he got eaten by that parasite and ever since that day, this parasite didnât leave his spot at all and we canât get his feces,â Ivan explained while scratching his eyebrow. âSo, do you think you can do it? We will pay you plentifully,â he asked.
âSure, just get me in there,â Archie answered without hesitation.
âUhh you just go up the stairs, and you can see the flat surface once you reached the top. In the middle, you will see a hatch that you can open and it will lead you into that room,â Ivan explained with his fingers pointed at the entrance on the ceiling. âTo be honest, we donât really need that parasite anymore since we already got a new one that can produce more feces than this guy,â he continued while looking at Archie.
âSo you want me to kill it?â Archie asked.
âIf you can, sure, but that guy is massive and we have been sending at least a dozen of Axis Humans in there but the results are always the same,â Ivan answered.
âThat wonât be a problem,â Archie said as he climbed the ladder and then went inside the room with the parasite through the hatch.
Archie stared at the parasite and the parasite immediately stood up and walked towards him. He looked at the parasite and then swung his sword at the it, he cut the parasite in half and it made Ivan shocked.
âHoly shit! This guy is the real deal!â Ivan said to himself as he watched Archie climbed up the hatch.