After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World - Chapter 127

Chapter 127: Brothers
Aberdeen City, 16 years prior

“Found you!” The little girl giggled as she looked at Ansel, her bright emerald eyes shining in glee, her chubby cheek red from panting and from excitement.

She then extended her hand to him and he, subconsciously, went out to take it.

She pulled him up and guided him to move. They ran deeper into the forest and farther from the eerie abandoned warehouse where he escaped from.

He could only watch as she dragged him through the bushes, with her jumping over protruding roots with ease.

Of course, because he wasn’t as skilled as she was, and what met him were occasional leaves and branches slapping him.

However, running through the forest like this felt a little… fun.

But, these moments of peace did not last long as the familiarly terrifying bellows soon sounded in their ears.

“There they are!!”

“I SEE THEM!”

The girl pursed her lips as she ran, “Whoops,” she uttered, just before changing her direction at an obtuse angle, almost twisting his arms with her dragging him.

Fortunately, she was only a weak little girl at the moment and he managed to keep his arm intact.

They continued to run for a couple more minutes until they found a forest with few large trees.

She pulled him to an empty trunk. “Wait here.” She ordered, taking a random twig below and threw it in a random direction far from them.

She had a very far throw for someone with such small arms…

Rustles indeed followed the noise and for a moment they were relieved.

However, a couple of steps later a large hand grabbed the little girl’s collar and lifted her up.

The man looked at her with interest, showing off his ugly smile.

“Oh my, what a cute kid.” The man grinned, revealing his golden tooth. “I bet you sell a hefty sum.”

The little girl struggled, waving her chubby arms to hit the man. Unfortunately, it didn’t even reach a speck of skin.

Ansel, shaking inside his hiding place, was very scared. He was pale, sweating, and terrified. He wanted to speak out, but no voice came out.

Coward, coward

He cried helplessly as he watched the girl lifted even higher for ‘appreciation’.

“Let mwe gow!!” She screamed, pulling Ansel out of his own depressed mind.

“Little brat! You dare scratch me??!!!” The man yelled, throwing the girl down to the ground with a loud flop.

Ansel’s large eyes reflected the strong legs that raised to kick the small girl now on the ground.

Ansel didn’t want to think anymore. He ran on out and grabbed the man’s towering foot, using all his tiny strength in an attempt to redirect the attack.

The gold-teeth man grinned. “There you are…” he said, grabbing his collar.

It was at this point that the other two big men arrived, looking more menacing than the other.

“You made a friend when we were looking away? Don’t worry… if your parents don’t pay up, you will be together for a looooonngg time.”

He cackled and the other two laughed with him. “Boss! This little girl’s so cute. Can I play with her before selling?”

“Not before I do!!”

Neither Ansel nor Althea, at this point, knew what they meant.

However, the newly-arrived teenage boy drenched in sweat, and panting, happened to hear this exchange.

His vision turned red.

“Althea!!!” He yelled at the top of his lungs, immediately darting in their direction.

Using one man’s leg as a thrust block, he jumped and used his entire body weight to kick the golden teeth out of the man’s face.

It was so sudden and strong that the man’s grip loosened and the inertia kept the two captives in place and ready to fall.

The newcomer managed to catch Althea, not even seeing the other little boy with her.

“Garan…” The little girl mumbled, tears lining up her eyes. She wrapped her arms around him, looking at him with dependence.

The teen’s anger subsided a little and his heart softened.

“I’ll be back.” He said, gently placing her in a relatively large tree root far from the hustle.

The 13-year-old looked at the men with great malice. Just imagining them thinking of his Althea like that made his blood boil.

He sprinted towards the two surprised men. They managed to catch themselves before he attacked, but it was too late.

Garan feinted an attack but shifted his kick to the other. Using the inertia of the kick, he flipped over to hit the other man’s head.

This was all done with precision and both men were dizzy with just 1 kick.

Garan did not give them a moment of respite. He jabbed a person’s face, and the others stomach.

He kept attacking them, and kicking the golden teeth man in the process.

However, they were all big adult men after all. How could they be so easy to take down?

One of the men managed to grab his hostile leg and threw him down, and the other immediately landed kicks on his body.

Bang!

Pack!

Thump!

“Garan!!” Althea cried, standing up, but was stopped by Garan’s shout.

“DON’T COME HERE!” He yelled back, standing up. He immediately darted in a direction, not giving the men another chance to attack.

More hits were exchanged, with Garan receiving quite a bit of damage in the process. However, despite receiving punches and kicks from the big men, Garan remained unfazed, his expression as stern as ever, and it didn’t take long for him to make a comeback.

He grabbed the feet aiming at his head and used his strong upper core and hands to lift the enemy’s weight.

Arms gripping the leg, he twisted his body and landed on his feet. Using his entire weight he lifted the man and dropped him with a bang.

“OI!”

“WHAT THE—”

A second later he already darted to the others—still shocked—jumping up and using his thigh to kick a face.

He was a bit imbalanced when the man suddenly moved to the side but managed to land sideways on a tree.

Using the momentum, he kicked the trunk and jumped from tree to tree, using the unexpected angles to finally take them down.

They finally unable to regain their balance, and Garan was quick to take advantage—hitting them in the head and the crotch. They screamed in pain, crying, no longer able to stand up.

And the young Ansel captured all of this with shining eyes.

‘So… cool…’

…..

[20 days of Protection Period]

Ansel raised his spear, finally stabbing the damned monster to death.

[Killed Gnomos (Lv1): +30 Experience, +30 copper]

He immediately turned and waived his wooden spear to block another attack, but its large teeth broke the low-durability weapon apart.

He cursed and took out another weapon. It was already his last one.

[Stab! -3 Mana]

[Stab! -3 Mana]

He used the dense forest to provide some temporary hiding spots, though most of the trees were damaged by the monster instead.

Finally, after using up the rest of his mana, he finally weakened it enough to give the final blow.

[Hui Mouse (Lv2): +50 experience, +50 copper]

He finally managed to breathe as he looked at the monster fall down, almost losing his footing.

After taking off some good meat from his enemies, he pushed himself to a safer place without blood to set up camp.

He dragged his feet to go farther away, hoping to find some shelter—an overhang—and built a fire.

Fortunately, he was dragged by Garan in wildlife training since he was a child so he could handle this little thing.

That jerk said it was for him to protect himself, especially if he got kidnapped again, but sometimes he thought Garan just wanted to torture him.

That guy seemed particularly proud when he saw his gossamer hair all messed up like chicken nests.

So much for brotherhood…

As he sat in front of the bonfire, he sighed and wondered when he’d see Althea. It had been so many days and he met quite a few survivors and he had not met one who was familiar with her.

Well, it wasn’t that no one claimed it. But a few wanted to take advantage to milk some money out of him.

Naturally, he gave in, like a natural victim.

It was just that when he found out they lied, he beat them up until they were half dead.

The mountain range was too large, and its connecting area was too wide. He admitted his sense of direction wasn’t the best, but surely he shouldn’t be too far off the mark…?

As he stared into the small fire and the disgusting meat he had to make do with. He couldn’t help but recall the halcyon days where he could get Garan to cook for him.

Sigh…

(If Garan knew what he was thinking, he would roll his eyes. It was obviously cooked for his wife, okay?)

Soon, the meat was ready. Or at least as much as it could be.

However, just as he was about to eat it, he heard rustles of leaves less than a hundred meters away.

He quickly killed the fire with loose soil, climbing up the tree with practiced skill.

Soon, the newcomers arrived and Ansel got a closer look at them.

It was two men with torn bloodied clothes. They are with similar hair, but a bit different temperaments and body mass.

But when they turned their heads to his direction, he saw that they had exactly the same face.

Ansel’s eyebrows rose in interest.

Twins?