Chapter 523: The Cruelty War Brings

Gustav didn't stop. He kept it up till the holes in the roof were covered alongside part of the entrance, leaving only a little space.

Looking at how he had constructed the house and turned it back to being a proper shelter, Gustav had a gratified look on his face.

He moved towards the entrance area and stared at the street from the small hole he left.

Others that were out earlier had also moved back into their abodes.

A few moments later, a troop dressed in all black vests and helmets came walking by the street.

They were about twenty in number armed with advanced weaponry, from what Gustav could see.

"The Zalibans..." Gustav noted how they looked and also saw a crescent moon emblem on the left side of their vests with a small eyeball positioned above it.

This was one of the six most powerful groups in the city against those who initiated the civil war.

Gustav had read about them, and according to the reports, they were brutal to anyone who opposed them, including the citizens.

The citizens usually hid in their homes upon seeing this group because they would not hesitate to cut down anyone, and they were highly unpredictable.

According to them, they were preserving the peace by dealing with anyone who was found outside their homes.

Some of the citizens were on the side of those who were fighting to reclaim power from the world government, and some were on the sides of this group, while others didn't care about all that. They just wanted their old lives back.

This particular group didn't care about all that. They messed with anyone regardless of what side they chose.

-"Hmm, these idiots came out of their houses again,"

-"I can see the footprints on the dirt,"

-"They have to be on the side of the enemy for them to do such,"

The ones at the front voiced out as they looked around, tracing the footsteps.

-"Blaster, that house,"

One of them shouted out and pointed towards the house opposite Gustav's current hideout.

The person with a gigantic frame in their midst moved towards the front of the house with a massive cannon-like device in his grasp.

His footsteps made loud noises as he took steps which depicted that this might be heavy.

Zzzhhhhuuuunnn~

A blue beam started charging up around the muzzle area of the weapon...

Boom!

It was shot towards the bungalow-sized house in front, and what was heard next were screams.

"Kiarrrhhh!" 

The massive hole had appeared on one side of the wall, and cracks started spreading across the rest before the walls crumbled down entirely.

A family of five could be seen within the household crooked up together with visible signs of fear on their faces.

Two parents, A teenage girl, and two young boys.

Some of the troops moved forward and surrounded them while pointing their weapons towards them.

The person who seemed to be like the leader among the group moved forward and reached out his hand to grab hold of the father's head.

"Kiiarrhh!"

"No!"

"Father!"

The children and the wife screamed out as the man was dragged away.

"Did you forget you were supposed to stay indoors? Disobeying means you're going against the government, and going against the government means punishment from us," The group leader voiced out with a raspy tone.

"Please I needed to feed my family, we have nothing left how are we going to survive without food?" The man pleaded with a fearful and apologetic look.

"You were provided with palliatives, don't act like you got nothing," The group leader voiced out before throwing the back of his hand towards the man's face.

Pah!

The smack sent him flying backward with blood jetting out of his mouth.

Two people from the troops reached out and picked him up before bringing him to the front of the leader again.

"Please, the palliatives were barely enough to feed my children and wife," The man still kept pleading while gesturing at his family.

"Oh you mean them?" The group leader voiced out with a condescending tone while turning to look at the rest of the family.

A smirk appeared on his face as he walked forward.

"Why don't I help you with that then," He said after arriving in front of the other family members.

The father, who was still kneeling in front, turned around as he heard that.

"What do you mean?" He questioned while blood kept dripping from his mouth.

"I will help you reduce the number of your family members, so the palliatives will be enough," Just as the group leader voiced that out, a weirdly shaped blade appeared in his hand, which he swung forward.

Swhiiiih~

The wife's head was smoothly cleaved off.

Plop!

It fell to the ground along with her body while blood gushed out like a fountain from her headless neck.

"Kiarrrhhh!"

"Mum!"

"No!"

All four of them shouted out in fright as a fountain of tears streamed down their faces.

The father's eyes widened as he stared at his wife's headless body. He couldn't believe his eyes. He saw his life flash before his eyes as he stood to his feet and ran towards the leader in a bid to attack him.

"I'll kill you!" He shouted out in a fit of rage as he brought out a sharp object from his pocket.

The leader easily swerved to the side and thrust out his left leg towards the father's side.

Bang!

A loud bone-cracking sound reverberated across the place as the man was sent flying to the side and kept rolling as he vomited blood.

The troops reached out to hold him down and brought him towards the group leader on his knees.

"I have helped you reduce the size of your family to make feeding easier. You should be thanking me, not trying to stab me," He voiced out into the ears of the weeping man who had just been widowed.

Gustav, who was watching this from within his hideout, had a dark expression on his face after witnessing what had just gone down.

("Remember you can't interfere with the war...") The system could sense the rage building up within him, so it quickly reminded him.