A Reliable Crew and Money for Stock

About five minutes later, Farn emerged with a young woman whose clothes were in disarray.

When he saw Su Yi was still there, he reassured the young woman, then walked over.

"My name is Farn Moke. I'm with the Ironclad Gang."

Su Yi said, "I'm nobody. Just call me... Arthas."

Farn nodded. "Do you... have more merchandise?"

Su Yi smiled and nodded without saying a word.

Farn said, "I can tell you've got the goods, but no way to sell them."

"Otherwise, you wouldn't be pitching them here."

"I always repay a favor. Give me your contact information."

"I can ask around when I get back and see if anyone on our end is interested."

"Whether you can make something of it after that is up to you."

Su Yi nodded at once. "Deal."

They exchanged contact details and went their separate ways.

After leaving Rust Street, Su Yi checked his phone. It was already nine at night.

He headed west across four streets and reached a sprawling maze of aging apartment blocks.

The place was as tangled as Kowloon Walled City in the movies.

The old tiles were covered in graffiti and grime, while trash and human waste littered the corners.

Cockroaches and rats scurried everywhere.

The dim corridors were cramped. From the darkness beyond the lights came intermittent howls and curses.

Most of the people walking through them had sallow faces and gaunt frames. Some had skin covered in revolting sores; others shuffled along like soulless zombies.

It was as though every fallen soul in the world had gathered here, along with every kind of filth and vice.

He climbed a stairwell plastered with ads for lockpicking, sedatives, and loans.

In the second-floor hall, a group knelt with their faces in their hands, heads bowed in prayer.

This was the most influential church in the area: the House of Loving Kindness.

They were the focus of version 0.2's main quest.

The third floor was packed and noisy. A greasy-haired young man in an oversized suit was loudly explaining his secret to success to a crowd of teenagers.

"If you want to get ahead, you've got to be ruthless! You've got to be wild! If you get it, let's hear some applause!"

In the fourth-floor hall, several men had thrown a blanket over themselves and started fooling around.

Su Yi had long since grown used to this sort of thing. He made his way up to the relatively quiet seventh floor, passed through a corridor piled with junk, worn-out shoes, and baby strollers, and reached the room at the very end.

He unlocked the door. Inside was a one-bedroom apartment of about fifty square meters.

Dust coated the old furniture, and clothes lay scattered across the floor.

The walls were covered with motivational slogans about making something of himself, along with curses aimed at his dead bastard of a father.

This was the home he had lived in for twenty-two years.

Su Yi had no interest in tidying up the dump. After clearing a clean spot in the bedroom, he pulled a medicine kit from under the bed.

He took off his clothes and saw purple bruises on his arms and back in the dust-covered mirror, along with several burns.

When he opened the kit, he found that the medicine inside had expired a year ago.

"How did you survive this long?"

Su Yi sighed. He used the expired medicine to clean his wounds as best he could.

"Hiss! This pain feels real. I shouldn't be a string of code."

As he wiped the wounds with cheap gauze soaked in expired disinfectant, sharp stabs of pain left him drenched in sweat and trembling.

This feels so real... Was this game actually invented by aliens? Do they want to use Earthlings as cheap fighters?

After tending to his wounds, Su Yi pushed the bed aside and pulled out a box full of musty clothes.

From a hidden compartment at the bottom, he took out two 100-Void Abyss Coin notes.

They were all the savings he had.

Then he took out his phone and messaged each of his three trusted underlings.

"Each of you, get me 100 Void Abyss Coins by tomorrow. There's big money to be made."

"I won't force you."

"If you want to be rich someday, get the money ready. If you don't trust me, you can join Mad Dog right now. I won't stop you."

After sending the messages, Su Yi found a reasonably comfortable position and fell fast asleep.

At seven the next morning, Su Yi washed up, shoved a handful of cheap, flavorless Nutrient Beans into his mouth, and hurried out.

He worked for a gang, but he still had to clock in at the company and collect his daily assignments before starting work.

He followed the familiar route to the company entrance and found his three underlings there.

Through Player View, Su Yi could also see all three of their status panels.

What a trio of screwups!

[Name: Second-in-Command, Alton Kyle.]

[Faction: Black Sun Group]

[Rank: Temporary External Worker]

[Void Abyss Projection: Not Activated]

[Level: 3]

[Health: 300]

(He dreamed of becoming a general and launching the thirteenth White Crusade.)

[Name: Third-in-Command, Mota Abbas.]

[Faction: Black Sun Group]

[Rank: Temporary External Worker]

[Void Abyss Projection: Not Activated]

[Level: 3]

[Health: 250]

(His prescription had made many people realize: so this was what eating shit felt like?)

[Name: Fourth-in-Command, Reijah Malik.]

[Faction: Black Sun Group]

[Rank: Temporary External Worker]

[Void Abyss Projection: Not Activated]

[Level: 2]

[Health: 250]

(He devoutly believed the Hand of the White Frost Goddess would help him jerk off while he prayed.)

From the look of them, all three had decided to stick with Su Yi. None seemed inclined to sell him out.

After meeting up, the four clocked in, left the company, and headed to their usual secret base: a compartment in the wreck of a Warship.

Su Yi shut the door and looked at the three of them. "What have you decided?"

Alton, the tall second-in-command, moved first. Usually quiet, he took out ten ten-Void Abyss Coin notes and said, "Boss, I only have this miserable life because you saved it. Whatever you say goes."

Mota, the third-in-command with a black headscarf, pulled out a fistful of small bills and grinned. "Boss, tell us what to do!"

Finally, Reijah, the quietly lecherous fourth-in-command, produced his own handful of small bills and said solemnly, "The Goddess told me yesterday that I can't go wrong listening to you, Boss!"

Their response genuinely moved Su Yi.

He knew full well that 100 Void Abyss Coins was a fortune to them.

Unlike him, each of the three had family and friends to look after, too.

Su Yi gathered the money, took a deep breath, and said, "Brothers, I, Su Yi, swear this to you."

"As long as I have food to eat, none of you will go hungry!"

Then Su Yi laid out his plan: they would trade guns.

The three were stunned.

This wasn't a business just anyone could get into.

They needed both the muscle to protect themselves and a steady supply.

Mota swallowed. "Boss... you have a supplier?"

Su Yi smiled and nodded. "I set it up yesterday. Last night, I sold a Kedi Star and made ten coins."

"Once we expand, tens of thousands—even hundreds of thousands—of Void Abyss Coins will be within reach!"

!!!

The three stared at him in shock, their eyes shining with hope.

Reijah's face flushed with excitement. "Boss! You're... you're practically a god to us!"

Alton was excited too, but he kept his head. "Boss, the Wolf Fang Gang controls the gun trade around here. If we do this..."

Su Yi nodded. "I know what you're worried about. Don't worry. I've already thought of a way."

"Once we get the guns, we don't have to sell them here!"

The three paused. Su Yi smiled. "We aren't the only ones in the Borderlands who need guns!"

Alton slapped his thigh. "That's right! The Revolutionary Army and guerrillas over in the Alliance are stirring up even more trouble than we are!"

Once he had talked the three through his plan, Su Yi's expression turned serious.

"This business is dangerous. Remember: keep your mouths shut, and be careful with every move you make!"

"If anyone catches you, you're dead!"

Back when Su Yi had done trading-run quests, he had died more times than he could count. He had been shaken down by the Patrol Bureau, robbed by gangs, had his goods seized by nobles, and been double-crossed by NPCs. He had seen it all.

As a Player, he had countless chances. As an NPC, he had only one.

After all, Su Yi didn't even know whether he could respawn if he died now.

And even if he could, would the person who came back still be him?

The three nodded solemnly. "Don't worry, Boss!"

With the plan settled, Su Yi told the three to wait outside, ready to back him up, while he returned to the row of blue buildings.

The gatekeeper seemed to have been given instructions. He let Su Yi in and blindfolded him with practiced ease.

When Su Yi opened his eyes again, he saw the middle-aged man from yesterday: Iron Beetle.

"How did it go, young man?" Iron Beetle asked with a smile.

Su Yi's performance and gift of the gab yesterday had left a good impression on him.

"Pretty well," Su Yi said.

With that, Su Yi laid out all 500 of his Void Abyss Coins.

"I want more stock!"

Iron Beetle looked at the pile of large and small bills and wasted no words.

He snapped his fingers. A door behind him opened, and two masked young men entered carrying two cases.

They opened the cases, revealing six types of weapons.

Most were handguns of various models, along with compact submachine guns.

Su Yi immediately spotted the gun he had dealt with most often before: the Mongoose-303 compact pistol.

It was small and easy to conceal.

The Revolutionary Army over in the Alliance was carrying out a revolution and favored assassinations.

There was strong demand for this kind of gun.

"At your current level, these are the only guns you can buy," Iron Beetle said.

Su Yi pointed straight at the Mongoose. "How much for this one?"

"Twenty-five Void Abyss Coins," Iron Beetle said. "If you spend all 500 on these, I can give you twenty-two. Buy ten, get one free."

Su Yi made a show of asking, "What about ammunition?"

"Standard five-millimeter electric rounds. I'll include ten rounds with each gun."

"Deal! I'll take all Mongooses."