Industrial Park

## 13. Industrial Park

Since they were going to deal with the Maelstrom, necessary preparations had to be made, such as:

Getting Jack, who always went around with his chest exposed, a bulletproof vest.

"I thought you'd at least have bulletproof plates installed in your clothes, so you could just zip up when needed. But you're telling me you don't even wear a bulletproof vest when you don't have Subdermal Armor?"

Even though they were already in the gun shop, Oliver still couldn't understand Jack's carelessness and recklessness. Viktor even reminded customers like them on their first meeting. He must have reminded Jack, an old acquaintance, countless times. Plus, Jack himself was a mercenary who knew the importance of armor. Yet, even in this situation, he hadn't equipped any protective gear.

"You're too much."

Karl also chimed in, criticizing Jack's disregard for his own life. He could understand it in a game, where characters were always made as exposed as possible for aesthetic reasons. But there were two problems: one, Jack was a guy, and two, this was reality now. Jack dressing like he was still in the game was just too much.

Karl didn't know the specifics of the game's story, but he had a feeling Jack would suffer for it.

Although bulletproof vests and bulletproof plates couldn't compare to cyberware like Subdermal Armor, which could defend against many types of firearms, they were still sufficient against basic kinetic weapons. Like the Lexington that Karl was quite comfortable using. Wearing a bulletproof vest meant that even if he was hit head-on, the bullet wouldn't penetrate too deeply, and there would still be time to get him to the hospital.

"That's why I came with you guys, isn't it?"

Jack didn't really care, but since his two friends strongly insisted that he wear a bulletproof vest, he came along. His original plan was to save up money and get Subdermal Armor directly, skipping the bulletproof vest stage altogether. After all, a bulletproof vest cost quite a bit of eddies.

Of course, Jack had been planning this for a long time. Every time he saved up some money, he would spend it on other things, like motorcycle parts or books. The Subdermal Armor was constantly put off, until now.

"But if I'm getting a bulletproof vest, KK, aren't you going to get a new gun too?"

Jack stared at the pistol on Karl's waist. "The Lexington is only used by the NCPD because the higher-ups are corrupt and the lower-level cops don't have any money. That gun can't even penetrate the worst Subdermal Armor with a direct shot."

"A low-level person's pistol, huh? That's perfect for us low-level mercenaries."

Karl didn't really care. When he picked up guns from dead Maelstrom and Sixth Street Gang members, most of them were either broken due to maintenance issues or modified in a way that made them unusable by others. But there were still a few normal ones among them, like the Unity pistol made by Constitutional Arms. This gun had a twelve-round capacity, decent power, and was quite easy to use. But Karl felt comfortable using the Lexington, so he didn't plan on switching.

If pistol bullets weren't powerful enough, he could just use the Copperhead assault rifle. The point of a pistol was that it was easy to carry and could be fired quickly at close range. There was no need to use it if you really wanted power.

Even if he was forced to fight using a pistol, Karl was confident that he could make the bullets penetrate the unprotected parts of his opponent's body. He didn't believe that a few Maelstrom thugs would have full-body protection.

The three of them bought enough equipment and ammunition at the gun shop, and then took Oliver's car to the Maelstrom's base of operations according to the employer's information.

The place was located in the Industrial Park in northern Watson District. This area used to be a place that could provide a lot of jobs. Back then, it was, in official terms, a vibrant and prosperous place. But now it had become a residential area for low-level factory workers.

They earned meager wages, working seventeen hours a day in automated factories, doing all the hard work they could. They didn't understand the principle that machines needed maintenance and that maintenance costs were more expensive than human lives. They just kept thanking the factory owners and working hard, fearing that they would be fired.

Who could say for sure? The bosses treated them like expendable materials, but they had to be grateful that there was still work for them to do, otherwise their whole family would starve. If Karl had to comment on this, he could only say that it was helpless.

What else could he do?

Should he be happy about it? Happy that he didn't have to work as hard as them to support his family, or should he be grateful? Grateful that he didn't have a family to support, like Batman? That would be too much of a dark joke.

Anyway, he hadn't received a mission to kill the factory owner yet, so he would just wait. If there was such a mission, Karl would be happy to do it. As for whether those workers would still be able to survive after the boss was killed, Karl could only say that he was just a mercenary.

Thinking about it that way, the reason why the Maelstrom had so many people constantly joining in this area might be because gang life, no matter how dangerous and crazy, was better than working in a factory. Maybe many of them had seen their parents' generation work so hard and had decided that they had to make a name for themselves no matter what.

"Compared to that, maybe the gang has a better chance of promotion."

On the way, Karl used this topic to talk to Oliver and Jack about this.

"That reminds me of the reason why our Sixth Street Gang was founded in the past," Oliver said. "The founder of the old Sixth Street Gang chose to form the Sixth Street Gang to fight against the oppression of the war-torn companies. But now it has changed a lot. When I was young, I never thought that the Sixth Street Gang would collect protection fees from the public and other gangs, and talk about relationships and power in the gang."

"A gang that rebelled against the corporation has become more and more like a corporation. How ironic."

Jack said, suddenly realizing something from Oliver's words: "Ah, Oliver, you used to be a member of the Sixth Street Gang."

"To be exact, I was until yesterday. I was just kicked out this morning."

Oliver then told them about how he met Karl.

"The employer specifically came to find KK because they saw the surveillance footage from that time."

"No, that's not what I care about. I think it's quite a coincidence. I used to be in the Valentinos gang, and then I quit and became a solo mercenary. Now, two people who used to be enemies in gangs have become friends and teammates."

"Jack, you used to be in the Valentinos?"

It was Oliver's turn to be surprised, but the surprise passed quickly. There was nothing strange about it. Jack's family was there, and Jack was so familiar with the Valentinos guys. Thinking about it, it was easy to understand.

"Then after we finish this job, let's have a drink together to celebrate leaving the gang."

"It sounds like you're saying we're going to kidnap someone."

Karl was saying next to him when the voice of the car's navigation system gave a prompt.

"The destination is fifty meters away."

"We're here, grab your gear."

Karl looked at the approaching factory building, looking forward to what was about to happen.