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Day 363 - 10:13 AM - West District, Southside Peak, Sacred Muria Fortress, Mount Muria, Central Java, Indonesia

"Has any of you found out anything about these so-called "Impostors"?

The well-known plump General asked in a voice loud enough to echo inside the meeting room. However, the only reply to his enraged question was nothing but silence.

"Nothing? NOTHING?" The plump General, General Agung Guntur, glared at his subordinates. "INCOMPETENT BASTARDS! That Wijaya is already taking action. And what can we do? Just blankly gawk at them?!"

The problem about the so-called "Impostors," also called [Face Wearers] by some, was already well known within the entirety of the fortress. Worse, even the mysterious happenings regarding the witnesses got leaked to the public.

It caused everyone to be at their wit's end. The people began to become cautious about the people around them. There were even cases of people being accused of being impostors, getting attacked and maimed, only to end up being falsely accused.

Trying to grab their faces was thought to be a good way to find these "Impostors." It was how the first witness was found to be one of them. However, as it turned out, it was not the best measure.

Some idiot tried grabbing a stranger's face. The stranger reacted badly and was suspected to be an "Impostor." The people gathered around and maimed the poor guy, forcing him to remove his "face." As it turned out, the man was no impostor. He just became one of the several cases of people being falsely accused.

And what came of the idiot who tried grabbing the stranger's face? He was later found dead in the forest outside the Southside Peak. As it turned out, the guy who was falsely accused and maimed was a relative of a large survivor group in the Southside Peak. There was no need to ask about the details. Furthermore, the military was too busy to handle these kinds of disputes between idiots.

Nonetheless, trying to grab someone's face was not something really recommended. Not only was it rude and would warrant such a negative reaction, but there was no guarantee that the impostors would react the same way as the first time.

In the next two days, after the rumors began and the fight in the market area, the brewing turmoil around the fortress continued to grow stronger. If left be, it would severely impact the stability of the fortress due to the overwhelming distrust among its people.

However, while the people were worried and in turmoil, it was the best time for the people in power to move.

It was the best time for people in power to garner public sympathy, opinion, and support. It was to gain authority supported by the masses.

But to do such, the people in power should know about the situation first.

Unfortunately, just as no one knew of the impostors beforehand, the factions, which divided the government and the military, had no idea about the situation either.

It was until yesterday. The first faction to move was the one led by General Wijaya.

All of a sudden, reports of General Wijaya's faction purging impostors from their ranks spread throughout the fortress. In just half a day, they found twenty soldiers and military personnel who turned out to be impostors. Two of which were high-ranking members of their faction, too. It may leave vacant spots in the faction, but they indeed found impostors within their ranks.

At first, everyone was skeptical. After all, it could just be a ploy to garner attention. In the first place, no one would believe it until they saw it with their two eyes.

And that was when General Wijaya's faction proved them wrong.

As it turned out, General Wijaya's faction began distributing some sort of trinket among their members. It was a large coin-sized badge to be worn, to be exact.

Then, it happened in the market. The soldiers distributed some badges to the patrol soldiers in front of everyone.

The moment everyone put on their badges at the same time after some sort of announcement and ceremony, three patrol soldiers' faces fell to the ground and transformed out of their disguises.

As soon as their figures blurred, they were shot with tranquilizers. In front of everyone, three impostors were revealed and captured, or it was supposed to be. Capture was impossible as of now. As soon as the impostors lost control of their bodies, they immediately cut their lives off and turned to ash, just like all the impostors they discovered beforehand.

Everyone realized it was those badges.

And if that was not enough, General Wijaya's faction began installing some devices along the entrances of important places they managed. And those devices alone revealed four impostors after just three hours of being installed.

The support for General Wijaya was rising to the dismay of his rivals.

It was not surprising. Many people wanted General Wijaya and his faction to fall.

As everyone knew, General Wijaya was pretty young compared to the average age of Military Generals in the country. It was because it was not too long ago when his rank was promoted by the President. He was just a colonel at the time when the apocalypse began. However, through his valiant efforts against the [Infected], the President raised his position, allowing him to command more troops and display his talent in anti-[Infected] warfare.

From just a Colonel into a General. It was a jump of several ranks. That was something that made other existing Generals a lot of displeasure. However, the President was insistent on the promotion of General Wijaya. The President's decision at that time was proven to be a wise choice as he managed to defend his encampment against seemingly impossible attacks from the [Infected].

In the end, the other Generals' bases fell. Everyone migrated to General Wijaya's base.

But the influx of people was something the base could not handle. They decided to find another place. It was when they put their eyes on Mount Muria, already occupied by a group of survivors.

The President was now long gone. After the main settlement fell, the President fell with it. However, General Wijaya's position was not something the people who wanted him gone could easily revoke.

That was why General Wijaya's enemies were slowly trying to weaken his faction.

But now, General Wijaya's faction was, again, on the rise.

"Then... Have any of you found where Wijaya got those badges and detection equipment?"

General Guntur asked his soldiers.

"We haven't found concrete evidence, but we have some clues."

One soldier replied.

"What clue?"

General Guntur stared at the soldier, making the latter nervous.

"Before the distribution of the badges, Gener-" The soldier paused, feeling General Guntur's intensifying stare. "Sir Wijaya personally made a visit to the 38th Sattelite Settlement. After that visit, the distribution of the badges immediately began. If we investigate from there, we might find more."

"Then, have you started investigating there?"

General Guntur asked.

"Not yet, General."

The soldier nervously replied.

"THEN WHAT THE F*CK ARE YOU DOING HERE? GET OUT OF THERE AND INVESTIGATE, YOU IMBECILE!"

General Guntur shouted, making the poor soldier scramble out of the room, even almost tripping after stepping out of the door.

"Incompetent bastard," The General remarked as he saw the door close, and he then turned to his other soldiers. "What about the other factions. Any actions from them?"

"General," A calm soldier stepped forward. "The other factions seemed to be at a loss as we are now. Furthermore, the situation is worse within the government factions. The political leaders are always distrustful of everyone. The impostor incident caused it to become worse, disabling most of their functions."

"Good," General Guntur smirked. "Those bastards who only know how to sit behind us were always sitting in their high horses. It's good to see them pegged down from those seats."

No one commented on General Guntur's remarks, but the soldiers were staring at him incredulously. Because if there was one person who had no right to talk about people sitting on high horses, it would be this plump General.

***

On the eastern side of the Southside Peak, the area between the market and the exchange center was bustling with people. These places always had a lot of people for obvious reasons. However, the reason this time was different.

The place was currently bustling with people not to trade but to visit something. It felt like the place turned into some sort of sightseeing landmark.

At the stage-like center, a device could be seen. If one were to describe the device, it was similar to those metal detector doors in airports. It was just the door frames were a bit thicker, with a few slots etched on the inner surface of the design. Most people might not know how these slots work, but a few already witnessed the slots releasing tranquilizer darts after detecting impostors.

Several soldiers guarded the area, with four around the device, keeping the order in place. 

And in front of the device, a large metal plaque could be seen. A message could be read on the plaque.

"Show everyone that you are the real you."

It was a message from General Wijaya when they installed the device here.

One problem that the impostors gave everyone was a sense of distrust. One person could ask another to enter the device to prove that they were not an impostor. However, while the other could comply, it would place a crack within the relationship between the two people.

In the apocalyptic world where relationships were feeble, these small cracks in relationships would be hard to mend.

That was why General Wijaya insisted on saying those words to everyone. It was to encourage everyone to voluntarily prove themselves without needing others to push them through it. Not only was it a good way to avoid relationship problems among people, but those who would not volunteer would give everyone enough suspicion towards them.

Some people asked General Wijaya if the badges that caught the impostors would be distributed by the military to the populace. Unfortunately, there was a limit to the current number of badges. Until the new batch of badges was created, it would only be limited to the designated people.

General Wijaya was being witty with that reply. Some people might simply think that all soldiers and military personnel would receive the badges from his words. However, his words only meant soldiers and personnel from his faction, not like it needed to be said in public.

Just like what General Guntur feared, General Wijaya's influence was growing rapidly due to his stunts.

In the installation of the devices, General Wijaya was present. He gave speeches to the public and even answered their questions and doubts. Some might say his moves were something politicians would usually do. However, there was no better way to appease the public while raising his image at the same time.

Fortunately, General Wijaya was not the same as the other people. He was not aiming for authority and influence because he was drunk in it. It was because he needed those things to make the lives of the people in the fortress better for the future.

However, the rival factions did not like General Wijaya's current growth. One after another. Ripples beneath the surface began to spread. Information about the badges and the devices was being dug up.

And all of their investigations led them to a single place.

The 38th Sattelite Settlement. The base of operations of the Moon Chasers.

It was where the badges and devices came from.

Once again, it was that settlement, a place already infamous among the corrupt side of the fortress.

Not to mention rumors and information about the settlement and the Moon Chasers in the past few days.

The Moon Chasers brought back the first specimen of a [Fog Crawler]. The man who captured the first impostors was also there. The rumors of untamable beasts being at their disposal also circulated. There was also that fight at the market three days ago and the unexpected recovery of Luna's niece.

Without a doubt, the 38th Satellite Settlement had been noisy in the past few days.

That was why many forces began to find the root of all the noise.