After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World - Chapter 616

Chapter 616: The Betrayers’ Punishment
Similarly, while the major perpetrators were being tortured and killed, the Alteran guards had also rounded up several normal citizens in the interior territory.

“I’m not a guard! Why am I getting punished?” One yelled as he was dragged along the alleys. He looked around and saw a few others were being pulled as well.

He paled when he recognized most of them, and a deep foreboding entered his gut.

He kept his mouth shut, hoping he was wrong, but he did know annoying these guards now would only strengthen their case.

The others though were not so mild. In particular, there were those who were rich or well-off in Terran and enjoyed a decent life here by pandering to Fargo. They had been extremely used to being arrogant, and they wanted to kick the faces of everyone looking down on them now!

“YOU BAST—”

He was kicked down before he could complete the sentence, and he was pulled back up, no longer having the energy to be so noisy.

Others were not so stupid, trying a more diplomatic approach. “This is not fair!” he yelled at the Alterans. “I saw you people going around, I didn’t say anything!”

Some of the locals nearby spit at them. “You were just too scared the Alteran would kill you!”

“It doesn’t mean I can be contained for cowardice—AH!”

“Shut up!” Mao yelled as he bumped the person’s head. The man felt his sights blur as he was dizzy, and he glared at the man.

“Is this what a soldier should do?!” he yelled, and Mao’s eyes darkened. Jall smirked, thinking he affected the man, instead he was thrown to the wall.

“You do know there’s no rules here about killing, right?”

The man coughed in shock and gasped when he was lifted up. “It’s nothing compared to the shame you should feel—heh, selling your own brethren for a bit of shelter? I heard you, in particular, even took part in the abuse.”

“Various reports came to light. But… don’t worry we won’t kill you,” Mao said. “Altera’s not planning on keeping slaves in the usual capacity, but we’ll make an exemption for you.”

…

Back to the torture plaza, the torture continued. Whenever the criminals were on the verge of losing consciousness, Drake would send a little spark in their bodies, ensuring they were awake to feel all the pain—to feel their lives slowly being drained until their bodies lost their functions.

Several soldiers stood by as they watched with complex emotions. After all, it was against their psyche as modern soldiers to do something so… primitive…like this. However, they also acknowledged that a good revenge was often necessary for a victim to truly move on with their lives.

The one who felt heaviest was Gian, who had received predominantly silent treatment. He just stayed to wait for his punishment from the captain.

He was there when the citizens were making their confessions, their oaths, and their stories, and he knew some, but some were new, but none failed to make him feel deep remorse.

Gian had worked for Fargo but he basically just assisted them in fights, in leveling up, and the like. He had never participated in the abuse and even low-key attempted to stop some of them, but in the end he couldn’t risk his sister or her friend.

So during the times he couldn’t stop Fargo’s men without using force, he would just look away and leave, pretending not to hear the cries for help.

By helping Fargo, he helped them do this.

He looked at the people lined up, seeing a few familiar faces there—after all, a lot of these people begged for his help before.

And because they limited the slashes mostly to the main victims, they saw almost most of them were females. A lot of them were his sister’s age, too.

He felt heavy as lead, his whole body feeling like it just wanted to melsh with the earth below him. His mind was only brought back to the present when he felt a tap on the back.

It was Luis, who was looking at him with a complicated expression on his face. “Captain is calling for you.”

“A-Ah…”

They met up in the forest outside the territory. There was a small clearing there, though the ground was mostly soil and stone.

There was Garan, Gill, as well as a few others standing there, dire expressions on their faces.

“Gian, what would you like to say for yourself?”

This set up made him think he was going to get the harshest of punishments. And he was willing to receive it.

“I should die.”

Gill sneered. “Useless—taking the easy way out.”

Gian raised his head and looked at them, realizing there was no murderous aura around them.

He… didn’t know what to say.

However, he met the Captain’s sharp blue eyes and it made him feel like kneeling down.

“You have betrayed our oath and you have succumbed to your selfishness and cowardice. As a soldier, you are more than a disgrace—you are a stain to what we stood for—”

Each word pounded into Gian’s head and heart, making him drown in shame.

“However—it is not worthy of death.”

It made him look at them with wide eyes, and Garan continued to speak. “Your life will be spared, but you have already broken the trust of the Team. You shall swear an oath never to betray an Alteran or their allies again, but at the same time you will never be able to step into its territory.”

Gian’s heart clenched, but he also knew he deserved much more.

Garan looked at him. “I can give you a chance to say goodbye to your sister, giving her a choice to come with you.”

Gian shook and kneeled down for real. “No! I… I can’t face anyone now—especially not my sister…

“Please… don’t tell her I was here or what I did.”

In fact, the more he saw of the aftermath, the more difficult it was for him to face the others, and their brethren.

He obviously had a narcissism problem, and he knew it would be difficult to change.

Garan and the others saw him like this and sighed, walking past him. Gian didn’t move and listened to them leave him behind. His heart was in pain when he recalled he would never be part of their team again, but he understood it was the consequences of his actions.

He kneeled there for a long time, thinking deeply, and he didn’t notice a few rustles of leaves sounding around him.

Unconsciously, he surrounded himself with fire, and the low-level monsters that tried to attack were immediately burned. He waved his weapon to kill them, all without standing up.

His mind ran swiftly as he calmed his heart, thinking of what to do next.

When he stood up a few hours later, his eyes were clear, and he looked in the direction of what was Fargo Village.

For the next month or so, Gian would guard this territory—without entering its walls—all the way until he was certain it was strong enough.

Later, he would leave to travel, saving every brethren he encountered along the way.

But that was a story for much, much, later.