In the dead of night, in District 17. Inside a certain house.
A man sat near the window, his expression serious as he peeked through a crack, occasionally meticulously checking the gun and knife on his belt.
A moment later, a figure appeared near the house. The man pointed the barrel of his gun out through the window crack. The gun was equipped with a silencer, so he wasn't afraid of being discovered.
The figure was carrying a large, struggling bag and made a hand signal of their cult. The gist of it was, "The sacrifice has been brought."
The guard let out a sigh of relief. Ever since the police got involved and the men in black began hunting down the Doom cult, their lives had gone from hiding like house mice to scurrying like sewer rats. To enter the hideout, one absolutely had to pass through many checkpoints.
As for why they didn't just grab someone from the many houses around, it was because even though they were fanatical about Doom, they still had a complete thought process. If they abducted someone near their den, the police would absolutely turn the entire surrounding area upside down. In that case, the stronghold would definitely not remain hidden.
So whenever they kidnapped a sacrifice, they would travel far from the stronghold, making their choices very random. Because of this, it was very troublesome, even difficult for the police, to get a handle on these small strongholds. Furthermore, because they were already fighting another stronghold, their forces were very limited.
But Noid was an exception. The 1000 accumulation points used to purchase his reconnaissance device weren't just for evaluating an opponent's stats. Its observation, marking, and tracking capabilities were top-tier, even for the year 2034 in this world.
Because of this, although the Doom cultists hated Noid to their very core, they were also truly afraid of him.
The guard opened the door, and the figure stepped inside. The door was locked from the inside, and the guard turned his back to begin his inspection. But in that instant, a hand clamped over his mouth. Before the guard could resist or raise the alarm, a single shot rendered him unconscious.
The man carrying the bag was also stunned, immediately followed by a blow to the head.
From the very beginning until they were taken down, they had no idea where he was.
Noid's figure appeared. He opened the bag. A little girl, about 13 or 14 years old, was struggling inside. Seeing the bag open, tears welled up in her eyes, thinking she was about to be eaten. But when the bag was opened, what she saw wasn't the terrifying cultists, but a figure in a dark windbreaker, pitch-black armor, and eyes glowing with a green light.
The little girl recognized him. All the kids her age, boys and girls alike, without exception, "idolized" the black knight who fought against the Doom cult at night.
Children born in this era were not negatively influenced by the dark things in society, because that society had already been destroyed by Doom. These children matured very quickly and were mostly very well-behaved. They didn't think in a complicated way: the Doom cult was evil, and the one who fought the Doom cult was a hero.
The little girl wanted to let out a shout of excitement, but Noid was quick to put a hand to his mouth as a sign for her to be quiet. He untied the girl.
"Go home. Remember to lock your door carefully."
She waved her hand vigorously and then ran off. Noid went back inside, propping the two men against the corner of the wall. He had a way to deal with the guards shining flashlights down into the basement.
The Invisibility Cloak.
It camouflages with the surrounding environment. Creatures under 1.5 in height cannot see through it. Note: When moving, the cloak will cause ripples that can be seen with the naked eye.
Selling Price: 20 accumulation points.
It was because of this item that the two men had no idea when Noid had entered and attacked.
Wearing the invisibility cloak, he only had to stand still before the guards shined their lights. He wasn't worried about the ripples; it was too dark here. Unless the other party had superhuman vision, there was no way they could detect them.
Just as he had guessed, the two guards only glanced around for a moment and then moved on. Noid quietly approached, close enough to hear the conversation between the two guards. Thinking there was a possibility of getting some useful information, he didn't attack immediately.
"Damn it, that guy scared me to death! I heard that six-tenths of all the strongholds in District 20 were uprooted by him."
"This isn't a rumor, it's the truth! A portion of the cultists in District 20 all moved and ran away overnight."
This wasn't misinformation or an exaggeration on their part, but the truth. All the Doom cult strongholds in District 20 had been eliminated or had fled.
This wasn't because he was too powerful or because the police had deployed a huge number of troops to sweep the area. District 20 was right next to the military base. All the strongholds there were small ones. No matter how much courage the Doom cult had, they wouldn't dare to concentrate a large force right under the military's nose.
"Let that despicable guy run wild for a while. We're getting ready to unite with the other strongholds to encircle him. It seems that guy is just an ordinary person. How can he survive being surrounded and killed by a hundred people? Such a person is definitely a delicious sacrifice for Lord Doom."
"Speak softly, what if he hears you?"
"Why are you worried? I just checked, there's no..."
The two figures fell to the ground, paralyzed. Noid emerged from the invisibility cloak, his face thoughtful.
"They want to unite and ambush me?"
Noid thought that made sense, after all, he had uprooted so many of their strongholds.
But then he suddenly felt that something was amiss. It was just a fleeting feeling, but it still put Noid on alert.
The police were getting more and more victories. He had also eliminated many Doom strongholds. Everything seemed to be getting better, right? So where was the mistake?
He wanted to continue thinking, but his current goal was to break through this place.
Carrying this doubt in his heart, Noid smashed the door and rushed in. There were no victims, so he could fight without restraint. Although he hadn't studied any martial arts, after being beaten by Sasha for so long, he had gradually formed his own fighting style.
With the support of his armor and two paralyzing devices, he quickly took down over a dozen people. The leader screamed hysterically, pointing his finger at him, but the answer he received was a punch to the stomach.
But instead of giving him a paralyzing shot as usual, Noid grabbed the leader by the collar. The cold, green-glowing spectacles stared at the man until he broke out in a sweat.
"Speak! Do you communicate with each other?"
"You lowly wretch, don't expect me to answer..."
A powerful punch broke the leader's nose. The man shrieked in pain like a pig being slaughtered but still didn't say a word. Noid followed up with another punch to his cheek.
Crack!
A bloody tooth fell from the leader's mouth. In his eyes, Noid's figure became even more terrifying. Perhaps out of fear, or perhaps from the pain, the man trembled and confessed.
"Yesterday... yesterday..."
"What about before that?"
"No... no..."
A paralyzing bullet shot out. Noid didn't turn back to report to the police; he quickly left.
That entire night was his most productive night ever. He completely eliminated seven strongholds, one of which had 25 people and was judged by the system to be a medium-sized stronghold. Noid took them down and gained 250 accumulation points, earning him almost 700 points for the entire day. But on the way back, he wasn't happy at all; he was only pensive.
All the leaders of the strongholds confessed that they almost never communicated with each other. One stronghold that had joined the plan to ambush him had only communicated with the others yesterday. Some strongholds were not even aware of the location or existence of the others.