Noid had been exploring the area for a week now, but he had found no clues about the commissioner.
He wasn't discouraged, though, because this was only the suburbs; the truly vast area he needed to search was deep inside the inner city.
There were still four neutral communities left in the suburbs. Over the past few days, Noid had visited all four of them to inquire for information. He found no news about the commissioner, but he did hear some news about the relationship between the gangs and the neutral communities.
The four neutral communities were currently much stronger than any individual gang. However, the number of gangs was up to ten. Fearing that they would ally with each other, the entire neutral faction had moved to the suburbs.
Noid didn't know if this information was true, but it struck him as strange. It felt... illogical.
A neutral community had a population of about 100 people. An individual gang was weaker than a community, so let's assume it had around 60 to 70 people. Even ten gangs at their peak wouldn't have more than 1000 people. 1000 people might sound like a lot, but scattered throughout the entire city, it wasn't particularly noteworthy.
These neutral communities were "afraid" of the gangs and moved away? They didn't need to be afraid.
The first reason was that it was impossible for ten gangs to ally with each other.
Noid had heard this from Kaular, from more than a year ago, when the doom had retreated from the city. The war between the gangs had broken out and become increasingly fierce, to the point where it was unsafe for small and weak neutral people to remain, so they either fled the city or joined other neutral communities. The gangs fought savagely, basically giving each other no way out, so the idea of ten gangs allying was a joke. Gangs could cooperate, but it was just a matter of dividing into fewer factions; they absolutely could not merge.
Second, if the gangs could ally, couldn't the neutral factions? Furthermore, under the right conditions, an alliance with another gang wasn't impossible. This was the apocalypse; to survive, people didn't talk much about righteousness. Both sides, good or bad, could be partners. Or rather, in the face of death, good and evil were one and the same.
The two reasons above made him feel that the information from the neutral communities had holes in it. But there was another possibility, one that sounded absurd but was quite logical in a "conspiracy theory" kind of way.
The neutral communities were afraid of something else besides the gangs, but because they couldn't abandon the city's abundant resources, they only moved to the suburbs. On one hand, they were living their lives, while on the other, they were prepared to flee at any moment.
This was because Noid had noticed a small detail: although all the homes the neutral communities had built seemed to be for long-term living, they didn't pay much attention to them. On the contrary, stockpiles and transportation were what they cared about most.
These people were, of course, doing this out of his sight, but Noid was not an ordinary person. His comprehensive physical strength was at 0.9, which was close to the highest level a human could achieve through training alone. It was like two people secretly whispering in a room, thinking no one could hear, but a martial arts master outside with superhuman hearing could hear everything.
After a week of no results, he quietly left without a word. What these neutral people wanted to do was not his concern. Noid's only goal now was to find the commissioner and bring her safely back to Rorgh City.
Entering the city, Noid didn't use the "greeting" method, that wasn't for thugs and gangs.
He rode his flying carpet, equipped his A.T.A. Armor, and activated its scanning function. Just like when he was looking for Doom cultists in Rorgh City, he began scanning the city for any stray targets.
Very quickly, Noid found his target. It was fast, because these people were brazenly out in the open on the streets, making it hard not to find them.
Noid followed this gang member all the way to their hideout. It was a large shopping mall. It was surrounded by an iron fence, and there were guards near the barrier.
Seeing that the situation was stable, he approached the fence and climbed over. A patrolman discovered him. But before he could do anything, he was taken down by Noid's paralysis rifle.
Noid began to silently sweep the perimeter. All the patrolmen fell before they could react.
He had done this kind of ambush countless times, so it was hard for him to make a mistake. After dealing with all the patrolmen, Noid used his flying carpet to lift himself up and observe the inside from a high window.
After a quick scan, he saw a group of people who seemed to be the leaders of the gang sitting around a large table, as if they were having a meeting.
CRASH!
The sound of shattering glass was deafening, and everyone sitting there was stunned. This was the third floor of the mall, so they didn't expect anyone to come in through a window.
Noid landed, his voice coming from inside his helmet.
"Hello, everyone. I have a question to ask..."
The response he got was the people pulling out their guns. Noid didn't hesitate and charged forward. The gang members also heard the commotion and rushed up. The chaotic battle began.
Noid's figure continuously flashed back and forth among the thugs, punching and kicking without a pause. Noid didn't even use his paralysis rifle or staff. These guys had a lot of guns, but most of them had poor skills, and if they let Noid get close, the outcome was obvious.
A series of terrifying blows echoed on the third floor of the mall. Noid fought with increasing fervor, taking the opportunity to practice his strikes, which made his opponents miserable. His current punches and kicks were enough to instantly incapacitate a normal person.
In less than ten minutes, dozens of people were lying on the floor. Some were motionless, others were moaning in pain, and some were curled up around where they had been hit... all of them were in a bad state. Only the person who seemed to be the leader was still standing, but the way his legs were trembling was enough to show how scared he was.
It made sense; suddenly, a pitch-black figure breaks into your base. Not only that, this person has an abnormally strong fighting ability, and it didn't take long for him to knock you and your subordinates out. Anyone would be scared.
The leader's legs trembled as he knelt down, his voice full of agony.
"P-Please... please spare us. We'll immediately deliver the people... immediately... immediately..."
His words made Noid, who was supposed to be asking about the commissioner, freeze for a second. It seemed the leader had mistaken him for someone else.
"Deliver people?"
Noid was a bit suspicious. The leader's entire trembling body stiffened. It seemed he had... made a mistake?
"What did you just say? Answer me!"
He grabbed the leader by the collar like a chicken and asked in a deep voice. The leader's face showed a horrified fear, but he still kept his mouth shut, shaking his head without saying a word.
POW!
Noid's fist hit the leader's stomach, causing him to spit out some liquid. He clutched his stomach in agony. This was followed by a slap to the face, which left his face stinging and branded with a handprint. Noid was controlling his strength to cause pain but not to endanger the opponent's life or make them lose consciousness.