Buying Equipment (Contract Signed, Please Bookmark)

"There are quite a few gangs in New York. If you go out, don't provoke them lightly."

Caleb made a point of warning everyone in the crew on the way there.

Los Angeles had gangs too, but there were fewer of them, and most gang families had already been around for three or four generations. Large-scale conflicts rarely broke out anymore, and they even helped the local police maintain public order.

New York, on the other hand, constantly saw new gangs rising up and clashing with established ones over profits.

"We'll be careful!"

Everyone nodded. Some paid little attention to it, while others took Caleb's warning to heart.

After arriving somewhere unfamiliar, Mark had already begun to feel unsafe.

After hearing Caleb's words, he immediately decided to add a few more measures to protect himself.

If his family had not been so desperately short of money before, he really would not have wanted to take on a role that required him to come all the way to New York.

After all, with his cheat ability, staying home and quietly growing stronger was the best choice.

The group soon arrived at the hotel and checked into their respective rooms.

"Ring, ring, ring..."

After returning to his room, Mark's phone rang.

"Boss, I've cashed all of today's money orders, and the money has been transferred to your bank card. I also sorted out the email addresses of the people who bought the game and sent them to your inbox."

After the call connected, a young man's voice came through.

"Thanks for the effort, Roger."

Mark nodded, then hung up.

Roger was an employee Mark had recruited not long ago. He was specifically responsible for cashing money orders at the post office and organizing the email addresses of players who had purchased Stardew Valley.

As Stardew Valley gradually became popular on major gaming forums, the number of players buying it increased by the day. More than ten thousand money orders were now arriving every day.

Simply organizing all those email addresses each day was already a demanding task. Naturally, Mark could not exploit his mother, Rosalie.

So he hired Roger to handle it full-time.

"Alice, send the registration codes to every player who purchased the game."

Mark gave Alice the command.

Then he turned on his computer and browsed a military supplies website, preparing to buy some things to protect himself.

There was now more than one million dollars in Mark's bank account, so he no longer needed to pinch every penny as he had before.

He first spent two hundred thousand dollars on five top-of-the-line small drones.

Then he spent over ten thousand dollars on two Electric Shock Guns, along with matching insulated gloves, insulated shoes, and insulated vests.

Mark was only five years old and could not legally own a gun. Besides, he would not be able to handle a firearm's recoil.

Electric Shock Guns were not regulated weapons and had no recoil, making them perfect for him.

However, ordinary Electric Shock Guns were far too weak.

Many people who were hit only felt pain. It did not stop them from moving, much less render them unable to fight.

So Mark placed another order on a welding supplies website for a disassembly tool kit, a welding tool kit, and some electronic components. He planned to modify the Electric Shock Guns after they arrived.

Of course, that was illegal.

But Mark would not normally use them anyway. If he truly encountered danger, who would care whether it was legal or not?

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

The production had not officially started filming during those three days.

Caleb led the crew in making the final arrangements on set, while Rosalie and the other actors gathered every day to study the script.

Mark went only once. Finding it boring, he stopped attending and returned to his room to continue improving Alice's code.

As the female lead, Rosalie naturally had to attend every time and could not be absent.

After she demonstrated her current acting ability, the other actors gradually accepted her as the star of the production.

Only Rachel and another actress named Tracy still spoke to Rosalie in a sarcastic, snide manner, openly and covertly mocking her.

Given Rosalie's personality, she could not openly fall out with them in front of so many people and could only bottle up her frustration.

"Mom, I bought some things. Could you help me receive them at the hotel entrance?"

On the morning of the third day, Mark called Rosalie.

The items he had ordered online had already been delivered to the hotel entrance.

Mark was still a minor, so naturally, those items could only be purchased under Rosalie's name.

Rosalie found the deliveryman in the downstairs lobby. After paying by card, she had him carry the items to Mark's room.

"Mark, what did you buy?"

Rosalie looked at the large boxes being carried into the room and asked in surprise.

"Some useful things that can keep us safe."

After the deliveryman left, Mark shut the door and answered while unpacking the boxes.

"These are drones? Mark, what did you buy so many drones for?"

Rosalie soon saw the contents of the boxes and could not help asking curiously.

As for the two Electric Shock Guns beneath them, she did not pay much attention to them.

"When we go out in the future, I'll have Alice control the drones and keep them above us, monitoring the area around us for danger..."

Mark explained to Rosalie as he assembled the drones.

Once he finished assembling and calibrating them, he immediately ordered, "Alice, check the area around the hotel for any security risks."

"Okay, Mark."

One of the drones immediately flew out through the room's window.

The Hilton Hotel where Mark was staying was surrounded by buildings: office buildings, supermarket buildings, residential apartment buildings, and other hotels.

The drone swiftly circled those buildings. As long as it did not linger too long, it would not attract anyone's attention.

Through a monitor connected to the drone, Mark and Rosalie could see the detailed footage it captured.

Mark had only wanted to test the drone's performance, but Alice's urgent voice soon sounded in the room.

"Dangerous target detected! Dangerous target detected!"

Then one image on the monitor instantly froze.

When Mark and Rosalie saw the image on the monitor, both their expressions changed.

The drone had captured another hotel not far from the Hilton.

Through a gap in the curtains, they could see a muscular white young man wearing a camouflage vest, his face covered in a thick beard. He stood by the hotel room window, holding binoculars aimed toward the Hilton Hotel.

What made Mark even more wary was that there seemed to be a sniper rifle at the young man's feet!

Though only half of the gun was visible, the sight was already terrifying.

"Ah!"

Rosalie cried out, her face turning pale with fear.

She had originally thought Mark was worrying over nothing, but after seeing this scene, she finally became afraid.

"Mom, don't worry. His target probably isn't us."

Mark reassured Rosalie.

Judging from where the man was looking, Mark determined that the young man's target was likely staying on the top floor of the Hilton Hotel.

Even as he said that, Mark walked over, shut the window facing the other hotel, and drew the curtains.