After seeing soldier B's signal, the captain said.
"Soldier B, we are short-staffed and need one more person to transport the supplies we just received to the depot."
"Supplies?" Soldier B asked.
"Yes. The search team went to a furniture factory to get the furniture to trade for supplies."
"Even though it is of little value, teams have to buy beds and such when they rent a house or apartment, because the base does not provide furniture for free but exchanges it for food or core crystals with the base, which then resells them."
"It is tiring work, but less dangerous, because survivors prioritize food, and only teams with superpowers or powerful people buy beds and such to be more comfortable."
"Those who want hot food and do not have fire superpowers on their team buy wood stoves."
"Furniture in poor condition is destroyed and sold as firewood," said the captain.
"I understand, captain, I will go right now to help," said soldier B.
"I will accompany you to the location," replied the captain.
After moving away from the base entrance and heading towards the truck where the furniture was, the captain said.
"Do you know why, even though the base was built 1 year ago and has a population of 10 thousand people, the base security teams are still recruiting people?" The captain said as he stopped walking a considerable distance from the truck with a neutral face.
He took out a level three core crystal and discreetly handed it to soldier Captain B with a humble face.
"Please enlighten me."
The captain took the core crystal and looked at soldier B with a relaxed face but did not open his mouth to say anything else.
Understanding the situation with sweat dripping from his face, soldier B, with pain in his heart, handed over another level 3 core crystal that was compatible with his superpower.
This was a crystal that was supposed to be used in case of emergency, but he had to hand it over, since the rest of the crystals he had were all of a lower level.
Soldier B was hoping that this would be enough, since he didn't have any more items that were so valuable.
The captain took the crystal silently and gestured for him to come closer.
"Have you ever heard of the devil?"
"You mean the base's highest-level mission?"
"That's right, many teams accepted the mission at the beginning to go after the devil. At first it was a medium-level mission, but as more groups accepted the mission and never returned, the level only increased until it became the most difficult mission at the base. Only teams with high-powered supernaturals risk themselves to capture the devil."
"Is that why the base is hiring so many people with supernatural powers with a lower requirement than before?" Soldier B asked suspiciously.
That couldn't be all the information, there must be something hidden.
"The people with the highest level were all hired by the base. Only those who were not satisfied with the benefits or who could have a high standard of living with their own team refused, but since their level was high, there were people left to do less important and riskier jobs that the others did not want to accept." said the captain with a somber face.
"The people who stand guard at the entrance to the base are there for two reasons. To protect the base and to be the little lamb that will be sacrificed if the devil comes seeking revenge," he said with a sarcastic smile.
"After all, what is this devil? A mutant plant? A mutant animal? Or a zombie king? I heard that there is an omega in another base who helped a zombie king escape… is that him?" said soldier B with a trembling voice, with beads of sweat running down his head.
"This is confidential information, the base bosses don't want anyone to know. But there is speculation among the citizens."
"The truth is that the devil was trapped in the research building, and after killing all the scientists in the building, he escaped from the base, killing everyone who saw him in person."
"What the base said is that a group of zombies infiltrated the base and that many people were sacrificed to kill them. I don't know for sure, because I was on a mission with my team to get medical equipment for the researchers, but I have a friend who helped collect the corpses and take them to be burned, and what he told me is terrifying," said the captain with a glint of terror in his eyes.
"What he said is that the corpses don't look like zombies, but like humans who were mummified alive… including those of the researchers who died."
"The day after, the base announced that, due to sabotage, there had been an explosion in the researchers' building and those who were not resting had all died, but the base assured them that they would capture those responsible and avenge the injustice."
After saying all this, the captain paused briefly before continuing.
"A week later, the mission to kill the devil was launched."
"How do you know it was the devil who was responsible for all this? Couldn't it have been a person with the superpower of water, for example? You know… taking all the water out of a person's body? Wouldn't it look the same?" Soldier B said.
"People with the superpower of water are the ones with the lowest level due to the difficulty of finding suitable core crystals, as everyone considers them trash. In addition, people with water superpowers can create water out of thin air and are employed by the base and private teams, after all, water is scarce and exchanged for core crystals. There are rare people who have managed to evolve their power, but after the evolution, the water undergoes a mutation and turns into ice."
"To be able to extract water from a person's body, their level would have to be absurdly high, and that's impossible. Besides, what would be the reason? If a person with such a high level existed in the base, they would become the leader of the base," said the captain as if he was explaining a problem to a child.
"The only information we have is that on the day of the tragedy, new experimental objects were being taken to the laboratory, but no one knows what these objects actually are, other than the surviving researchers and the leaders. When asked, he does not answer. There was only one researcher who, when he heard the news, started shaking and said it was the devil before having a heart attack and dying, and this information is extremely confidential."