BXBX NOVEL Chapter 19 - 19 – The Prisoner
I pulled my head and rubbed my face. Shit. His face had been shattered, obviously from the slashes of the ax. The blood spread so much to the point that I could smell the rancid smell.
Maybe I should turn on gore censorship in this game, as people have suggested on the forums. What I saw was so real.
I calmed myself first, then whispered to Leva to stop slashing. As soon as I pressed the play button, the red-haired woman restrained herself from swinging the ax. With a wild breath, she took a few steps back.
Manu struggled to straighten himself up to see what had happened. Seeing the assailant\'s corpse, he grimaced stiffly. "Damn."
The man and Leva looked at each other but spoke no words.
Not long after that, Kat came with the prisoner. The girl flinched as soon as she realized the assailant\'s corpse, but her expression remained unchanged.
The breath of the man who was being held by Kat started to get out of control. His tears began to fall. His mouth had opened to scream, and he was about to fight back to break free. However, Kat stuck her arrow in the attacker\'s face.
"Don\'t move." The girl hissed.
"Why did you bring him here, Kat?" With a wild expression like a beast aiming for prey, Leva came to the prisoner. "Why don\'t you just kill him?"
The skinny prisoner flinched violently. "Please, don\'t.... I\'m just being ordered by my tribe leader..... I don\'t want to do this..."
"Shut up!" Leva pointed her ax at the skinny man. "I didn\'t ask you!"
"I think he could be a member of our group." Kat answered according to my orders.
Leva stopped quite close to the two people. The corner of her left eye twitched, and her mouth gaped open. "Are you crazy!? This guy has attacked our Tribe! He deserves to be punished! He shot at me! Look at this!" Leva showed her thigh, which was still pierced by an arrow. "I\'m sure, he intends to aim for my vitals! That\'s what a raider would do! He intends to kill me! If he became part of us, he might end up killing one of us, or even all of us!"
I tried to order Leva not to get angry, but it was no use. I\'m afraid he killed this assailant. Yes, he is guilty. However, his confession did not seem far-fetched. He really didn\'t want to do this.
"One more thing, if he joins, it means we have to feed more people." Manu approached the three with a limp and staggered step. Bruises and wounds covered the face and body. Miraculously none of the blows knocked Manu unconscious.
"Who are you, where are you from, and state your abilities." Kat said to her prisoner, after I gave the instructions, of course.
"M-my name is Pif." Hissed the man with the thin body, buck teeth, and fluffy black hair. "I\'m from the Hardfeather Tribe.... Hey, please, let me go, I won\'t bother you anymore after this. And sorry, I can\'t join your Tribe, I don\'t want my Tribe to be angry because they consider me a traitor."
[Pif, 18 years old (Tribe Member, Raider)]
STATS:
Ranged attack: 21/100
Melee attack: 1/100
Construction: -
Crafting: 6/100
Cook: 3/100
Plants: -
Mining: 1/100
Animals: 2/100
Medic: 55/100
TRAITS:
Diligent – Pif is a hard worker and gets the job done quickly (Work speed +15%).
Weak body – Pif feels tired very quickly and gets sick easily.
INCAPABLE OF:
Construction
Plant
HEALTH ISSUES:
Stab wounds to his left hand, left shoulder, and right thigh (working speed -40%, walking speed -23%).
Ah, he\'s still very young, even though his face doesn\'t show that. His stats weren\'t too high either, and there was one trait that could hinder him.
However, his higher medic stat and this diligent trait might bring benefits to my colony.
"Hardfeather Tribe?" Manu asked in a drunken-like voice. "You really are from the Tribe who love to steal from the others? They\'re known for being muscular, why is there someone as skinny as you?"
"I\'m the exception...." The boy started to sob again. "Please, I\'d rather go back and be beaten, than be a traitor and be killed.... They will surely torture me even more cruelly before killing me."
Mercilessly, Leva slapped the boy. "I hate whiny men!"
Looks like I need Seb\'s ability to get this guy to join.
As I turned to approach Seb, I saw the man already standing beside the assailant\'s corpse.
His eyes opened extremely wide as if they were about to pop out of their sockets. His body was also shaking violently.
Seeing the look of horror on his face, I knew this wasn\'t going to be good.
The blonde-haired man squeezed his head, knelt down, and opened his mouth wide. "Argggggghhhh!!!"
Shit. As a non-violent individual, it seemed Seb wasn\'t used to seeing gore like that. This is a dire situation. He\'s the one with the highest medical trait because Pif hasn\'t joined yet. I don\'t want Leva and Manu\'s wounds to leave scars that diminish their workability. The higher the stat of the treating person, the higher the chance that such a thing would not happen.
[Mental breakdown debuff – Seb is under severe psychological stress, so he cannot properly perform his function as a human.]
Pausing gameplay again, I stared at the other three colonists. It was impossible to ask Kat for help to persuade Seb. The woman\'s communication skills were almost zero.
The only choices are Manu and Leva. After considering for a while, I chose Manu. But a text appeared in front of me after whispering to him.
[Manu\'s concentration is temporarily reduced due to the injury to his head. He became less able to focus, so his communication skills were reduced. He could not convey what was on his mind properly. Are you sure you\'re still going to use him to carry out your orders?]
I scratched my hair. Feeling that choosing Manu would make things less than optimal, I finally asked Leva for help, even though I wasn\'t really sure either. Leva\'s nature was too harsh to calm someone down.
I gave orders to Kat and Manu to tie Pif to the tree. Leva walked over to Seb, who was still screaming hysterically like crazy.
Leva knelt before Seb, blocking Seb\'s view of the ghastly corpse.
The girl shook Seb\'s body, making the man stop screaming, but his expression of horror was still evident. "Look into my eyes, Seb."
Surprisingly, Leva said in a soft and low tone.