Merlin's Custom Shop

Liberty City, Hell's Kitchen, Merlin's Custom Shop.

It was August, and the weather was sweltering. During the day, there weren't many people walking the streets, but once night fell, people from all walks of life began to emerge in the alleys and avenues of Liberty City.

Vice and luxury walked hand in hand.

Inside the spacious workshop under bright lights, a slanted steel-plated vehicle sat on the workstation. A young man wearing blue overalls held a welding torch, continuously reinforcing the joints.

The entire vehicle had a strange appearance, resembling a formula race car with a low chassis and a crude steel plate frame.

The most distinctive feature was the slanted front section of the body, which looked like a shovel bucket.

"Clatter..." The rolling shutter door slowly rose. Accompanied by the low roar of a motorcycle, a bald man wearing a black leather jacket, with a circular target mark printed on his forehead and a hint of madness at the corners of his mouth, rode his bike into the workshop.

After entering, Bullseye got off the stalled motorcycle. Seeing the young man wearing goggles and working with focus, he didn't disturb him, instead leaning against a seat and fiddling with his shuriken while he waited.

Blinding white light flashed from time to time, causing Bullseye to frown.

To be honest, for someone who constantly focused on crosshairs, he didn't like this white light that could sting his eyes.

The white smoke rising from the electric welding drifted slowly toward the ceiling of the workshop, eventually being drawn out into the outside air by the exhaust fans.

"...Buzz, buzz, buzz..." After welding the final node, the young man finally took off his goggles and looked at the visitor in his shop.

"Something up?" The young man tossed his goggles onto the nearby workbench, then walked over to a refrigerator in the corner, grabbed a Coca-Cola to drink, and tossed one over to the visitor.

Bullseye caught it easily, pulled the tab to take a sip, and looked at the young man before him. The other party had deep-set features, a mop of messy black hair hanging loosely over his forehead, and still carried the youthful air of a High School Student.

Yet, he didn't dare to underestimate the other party in the slightest.

The young man before him was named Merlin Shaw, the owner of this custom shop. However, in Hell's Kitchen, anyone capable of keeping their business standing was no simple character.

Although Merlin Shaw wasn't old, he was a master of vehicle modification. The armored Kuruma was considered the calling card of Merlin's Custom Shop in Hell's Kitchen.

Beyond that, he was also responsible for weapon sales and modifications. While not the largest merchant in Hell's Kitchen, everything he sold was a high-performance boutique item.

"How much stock of Explosive Rounds do you have left? Our boss wants it all."

"Throw in a few MK2 Sniper Rifles while you're at it."

"And bring an Evil Hades, too."

Bullseye crushed the soda can and, while speaking, tossed it with precision into the trash bin by the rolling door.

"Are you planning an assassination?" Hearing this, Merlin raised his eyebrows in surprise and looked at him.

Not to mention the Explosive Rounds and the MK2 Sniper Rifle, the Evil Hades, as a laser weapon, was perfectly suited for infiltration and assassination.

However, it would naturally be much more expensive.

The Evil Hades laser rifle didn't suffer from the poor reputation it had in the Three Men and a Dog Game; its performance in reality was clearly far superior.

"Yes. How many can you sell?" Bullseye didn't offer any further explanation.

"You're practically ruling the underworld, yet you're still resorting to assassinations," Merlin quipped, then led Bullseye toward the back yard of the custom shop.

"Follow me."

In the back yard, rows of modified sports cars and sedans were lined up. Their gorgeous exteriors and designs filled with a sense of technology made Bullseye's eyes light up immediately.

What attracted him most was a pitch-black vehicle with a large rear, a front end that took up most of the car's length, and a circular "mouth" on the front. Viewed from the front, it looked like a seahorse, with a sleek exterior full of futuristic technology.

"You actually modified a Batmobile? How's the performance?" Bullseye couldn't help but lean in, stroking the body of the car in awe.

"That one's called the Vigilante. It's just missing an engine right now."

"What's the price?" he asked curiously.

"Anywhere from ten to thirty million. It could be cheaper if you can get me some Plutonium." Plutonium was an essential raw material for the atomic energy industry, and many vehicle and engine technologies in the Five Star Citizen Game required it.

The difficulty of obtaining such a controlled material could be imagined, and he didn't have much on hand.

However, for Kingpin, it shouldn't be too difficult.

"Plutonium..." Bullseye made a mental note.

"By the way, I remember you're starting school soon, right? How are the shuriken I asked for coming along?" On the way to the warehouse, he asked casually.

He highly valued Merlin's forging skills, and the shuriken he produced always suited his grip perfectly.

"I'm rushing to finish them for you."

"If you can, make me some Bat Shurikens. I want to see how they handle." After seeing the Batmobile, Bullseye's hands were itching.

"Then you'll need to find some Tungsten Alloy. You can't have sentimentality on the cheap, can you?" Merlin tilted his head and teased.

"No problem."

"There are three boxes of Explosive Rounds left, totaling thirty-six rounds. Six boxes of Armor-Piercing Rounds, totaling seventy-two... and the MK2 Sniper Rifles..."

These weapons were quite popular, so the inventory wasn't very large.

"The last Hades has already been reserved. If you want one, you'll have to wait a week."

"Fine, pack them up for me!"

After seeing Bullseye off, Merlin checked the time, turned off the workshop lights, hung up the "Closed" sign, and rode his Ducati 916 out of Hell's Kitchen.

The red Ducati cut a crimson phantom across the streets; Merlin felt the gale whistling past his ears and the blurred scenery, his body leaning low as a flicker of excitement flashed in his eyes.

Merlin was not from this world, or rather, his soul was not.

In his past life, he was an extreme sports enthusiast who favored shooting and racing games, with his absolute favorite being Morality and Rule of Law 5, followed by Resident Evil, Call of Duty, and Halo.

During an underground street race, he ultimately could not escape Death and lost his life after plunging off a cliff.

However, perhaps Death was not particularly skilled at his job, for when he woke up again, he had transmigrated into the body of a high school student in Queens, Liberty City.

The original owner was named Merlin Shaw, whose father had died in Hell's Kitchen before he himself was tracked down and beaten to death by his father's enemies.

That was how he transmigrated into this Westerner's body, accompanied by the system in his mind—the Ninth Art Technology System.

It allowed him to obtain technology from corresponding games based on the influence generated by releasing them.

The first game the system provided him was the highly open-ended one that he loved the most—Morality and Rule of Law 5.

An action-adventure open-world game, a true Good Citizen Simulator.

Following the game's release, it became an explosive hit without exception, rapidly sweeping across the entire internet.