Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night
Chapter 277: No Longer Biased

With Gwen having been properly equipped, her stats increased significantly. Especially that which she relied on as her primary attribute. Which was, of course her dexterity. It was now over fifty, and that was on par with Tier II Horde Kings. By speed alone, she could take on the lowest levels of her siblings who otherwise would normally defeat her quite nimbly.

In addition to this, her damage per second was increased by the weapons Zane had given her, which matched his own. The young Horde King was truly peerless at her own tier. Because of this, she was incredibly thankful, trying to hug Zane as a sign of her gratitude.

Of course, the man kept his distance, pushing the girl away by the forehead with the palm of his hand every time she tried to get close. It was an embarrassing sight to the other Horde Kings who watched their sister play the part of a love-struck fool.

Eventually, the nonsense was cut short as Zane quickly expressed his plans for the day. Plans which would help his strength evolve immensely. And rapidly at that.

"Our goal is simple today. We're going to scout out the place where the faction known as the Raiders reside. If we can kill them all, then we can split their hearts. Allowing each and every one of us to gain an insane amount of power.

The plan is simple. With Gwen and my current abilities, we can remain virtually invisible as we infiltrate the arena where they have made their camp. We will scout out the competition and see what exactly their numbers are, and how strong they are.

If it can be determined that we can take them all out without attracting the attention of the local Horde King, then we will do so. If not, we will have to think of a more covert way to kill them all. Something that isn't as suspicious as a full on slaughter.

What do you all think?"

Nobody really had any complaints. With the duplicated Deaths' shroud, albeit at the epic quality, and not the legendary quality. Along with Gwen's absurd stats. She could remain completely invisible as she stalked through the Arena where the Raiders made their camp.

And the same could be said for Zane. A simple infiltration and reconnaissance mission would allow them to thoroughly understand the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy. As well as properly replace out how best to exploit the weaknesses of not just the enemy, but their settlement itself.

Because of this, Eliza, Beatrix, Darren, Zander, Jett, and Lawrence all agreed with Zane's plan. They would be sent back to the void to be called upon when they were needed. While Gwen would follow Zane to their target.

---

The Raiders were named after the football team that had only a few years prior moved to Vegas. It was founded by several of the players who, in the initial days of the apocalypse gathered the strength to reclaim their team's stadium and make it their home.

Initially, their intentions were good. But in apocalyptic times, goodness would only get you killed. And humanity was very quick to disregard its civilized nature, returning to a state of feral beasts willing to kill for a can of beans if it meant their own survival.

To those who wished to survive, and truly survive there was no sin too great, no act too evil, that they would not commit for this purpose. And the founders of the Raiders were quickly replaced by more survival minded figures who killed to obtain their positions.

Why scavenge for food when you could kill others and take what they had? Raiding was itself a means of survival. One that many men were not afraid to engage in. And so eventually the Raiders became just like their namesake.

Now they had built a thriving community in the old arena that their founders had played football in prior to the outbreak of their apocalypse. You were either a raider or a slave in their society. There was no in between.

Raiding had its perks. If you fought and killed, you would be given food and water to survive. And if you killed enough, or a powerful enough enemy, you may be granted a slave. It was a very simplistic society where might be right. And nothing else mattered.

Rules were established solely to keep the raiders from fighting among themselves and were very rudimentary. No killing one another, no stealing from one another, and no fucking one another's slaves unless first given permission. Other than that, pretty much everything else was permitted.

And while the raiders were excellent at fighting and killing, whether that be undead or the living. Where they really shined was the manufacture of narcotics, which flowed through the other survival communities in exchange for blood crystals.

Zane and Gwen did not even need to enter the Arena to replace that this was the case. The simply fact that junkies were coming to the gates of the arena, to trade their means of power for a high, was all that needed to be said.

And when Zane saw this, he sighed heavily before expressing his beliefs about humanity.

"They really are a lost cause, aren't they? Humans would rather exchange essential supplies and resources for a brief state of comfort. Perhaps that's why the world was so rotten prior to the outbreak of the apocalypse."

Gwen chuckled when she heard Zane comment on humanity with such fierce terms. She was quick to point out that he himself was human once.

"That's an interesting perspective coming from a guy who was born human…"

Zane however did not entertain Gwen's humor, and instead stared at her with cold dead eyes before expressing why he felt this way.

"But of course, you have to be human to fully understand them. And now that I am no longer one of them, I no longer have a bias towards their wretches species. I can see clearly now that the plague was a gift to the world. Soon humanity will go extinct, and in its place a new power will rise. One that hopefully has more foresight than these hairless apes. Now let's go, time waits for no man!"

After saying this, Zane jumped from the rooftop he was on towards the Arena's entrance. Activating his stealth as he did so and leaving Gwen in shock at his words.