In the world of EndEath, there were a total of five cities, each rated with the grade allotted to the mutant beast creatures: Grade A, Grade B, Grade C, Grade D, and finally, Grade E, which was the place Ryuk lived.
In Grade E, moving to other cities was banned. One could only move from other cities to Grade E, but not the other way around.
This had made most of Grade E's inhabitants refer to it as a prison.
The conditions of Grade E were, of course, the absolute lowest. However, if there was one good thing about Grade E, it would be the almost complete absence of civil law.
One couldn't be arrested in Grade E.
Most crimes committed were petty ones, such as stealing others' cores, but if caught doing that close to the core exchange center, one would only receive a beating before being let go.
The Apex Soldiers never came to arrest anyone at all. That was why most people came to Grade E in the first place, and why Grade E was such a bad place.
The majority of its inhabitants were those who had committed grave crimes and fled to Grade E to avoid ever getting arrested.
But running to Grade E also meant never leaving, which was why the Apex Organizations were probably satisfied with not arresting a criminal who sheltered themselves there.
It was an equal sentencing to life imprisonment.
Despite this, the existence of the Apex Soldiers was known throughout the world, and Grade E was no exception.
Even though most inhabitants had never actually seen an Apex Soldier—because they never really came into the settlements—everyone knew where the Apex Soldiers stayed: the Apex Barracks.
Right now, Ryuk, through the small rectangular glass in front of him, could see part of the gigantic wall that stretched into the distance as far as the eye could see.
Looking at how it disappeared into the horizon, he could only think of one hypothesis:
'The whole of Grade E had a wall barricade around it!?'
That was the only explanation. His attention was diverted as he saw the large gate painted white and blue.
At the sides of the gates were large walls, where some soldiers, donned in their uniforms, could be seen standing. They had serious expressions on their faces as they looked at the approaching vehicle.
"STOP AT THE POST AND IDENTIFY YOURSELF AND WHAT BASE REGIME YOU ARE ON!"
The loud voice came barreling toward the truck as Enok's eyes narrowed.
Such a thing as stopping and identifying oneself was basic protocol, but it was something rarely observed by them.
In fact, it had been years since it was observed, as everyone knew no one from the settlement ever approached the gate—only the Apex Soldiers did.
Yet, here they were, being asked to identify. This could only mean one thing.
"Those vampires really came, and it seems they're pretty good at bossing people around, or the damn Apex Captains are trying to bootlick them," Enok said with a scoff as he soon stopped the truck and got down.
Dipping his hand into his lap coat, he brought out a card.
A beam of light came forth from the top of the wall, held by a strange nozzle-like weapon. The light shone on the card.
The scene of shining light on the card continued for about 10 seconds before the light stopped, and the soldier atop the wall dipped the light-weapon back into his pockets.
What followed was the sound of the large blue-and-white gate opening up. The truck slowly entered as the gate once more came to a close.
Now that they were truly within the gate, Ryuk could clearly see the Apex Barracks, and he couldn't help but be surprised.
Before him were various towering structures that seemed like giants—sleek and covered in this glistening, glowing metal he had never seen before.
The ground they were moving on wasn't covered with sand but with granite and well-smoothed cement.
It was the first time in his life that Ryuk had ever seen fully granite flooring, with no cracks or gaps at all.
The same couldn't be said for back in the settlement, where the ground seemed to have been blown up by some kind of bomb, revealing the sand beneath.
"If what you said earlier was true, then that building with that emblem should be the place where you have to go to get the access," the muscular soldier said to Ryuk as they got down from the truck.
He pointed into the distance, where the largest building in the entire barracks could be seen.
There was a gigantic logo of red and blue wings, along with a sword running down between the two wings.
It was the logo of the Apex Soldiers, and it really was a beautiful one.
"Thank you!" Ryuk said to the muscular man before turning and walking off into the distance under the gaze of the two men who watched the scrawny-looking, dirty kid disappear.
"Scrawny-looking, unkempt, naive, and real dumb."
"He's everything negative, just like the slummy area where he comes from," Enok said with a chuckle as they watched Ryuk disappear.
"At least he has some self-consciousness and a bit of guts."
"As for how long he can keep that up, that's another question for the day."
"What about you Vandal? What do you think of him?" Enok asked curiously as he turned to look at Vandal, who stared at Ryuk disappearing into the distance before taking his gaze away and walking in the opposite direction.
"Hey, wait for me! I asked you a question, you damn bull!" Enok shouted in anger as Vandal ignored him.
Grabbing his bag, he chased after the figure of Vandal, who didn't seem to care at all.
Their argument spread into the distance before eventually disappearing, the last thing coming out of Vandal's lips being:
"We've already helped him safely to the barracks."
"Whether he lives or dies is no longer our concern, so I don't care about him anymore."