A Successful Deal and a Future Big Spender

Alton and the other two hid at a street corner, watching the house from a distance.

"He's been in there fifteen minutes. Think the boss is okay?" Mota asked worriedly.

Rijia said with reverence, "Don't worry. The Goddess's Hand is watching over the boss."

Alton shot him a look. "Keep your fantasy sex toy away from the boss!"

As he spoke, he saw someone escort Su Yi out with a bag on his back.

The three hurried over as soon as Su Yi emerged.

Alton asked eagerly, "Boss, how did it go?"

"Let's get out of here first," Su Yi said.

Half an hour later, they left Rootvine District and returned to their secret base.

When Su Yi opened the bag, the three stared wide-eyed at the brand-new guns inside, each no bigger than a palm.

Of the three, only Alton had ever handled a gun during militia training. Mota and Rijia had never even touched one.

Among their people, only someone of Mad Dog's rank qualified for a gun.

Alton eagerly took out a pistol and turned it over in his hands. "This feels like a dream."

"Twenty-two guns," Su Yi said. "We'll keep two for self-defense and sell the rest."

Then, under their astonished gazes, Su Yi swiftly and expertly stripped and inspected the guns one by one.

He reassembled each one in the blink of an eye.

The three could only stare.

"Boss, when did you...?" Alton was stunned.

He had never seen skill like that in the militia. Even in the regular army, Su Yi would have ranked among the very best!

By then, Su Yi had inspected all twenty-two guns. The familiar, effortless feel of them left him exhilarated.

"I practiced when I had nothing better to do. Don't worry about it."

The three exchanged glances, each seeing the same shock and admiration in the others' eyes.

"Here's the plan," Su Yi said. "Load the two we're keeping for protection and carry them close."

"Separate all the other guns from their ammunition. We'll each carry a share taped to our bodies."

"We're heading to District Nine on the border."

The three snapped back to attention. "Yes!"

They quickly concealed the guns and ammunition against their bodies, then followed Su Yi into the borderlands.

The place was a chaotic mess.

There were all sorts of low-level gangs, Vine City patrol officers, Rhodes Alliance police, cultists, smugglers, highway robbers, drug dealers...

The four of them were walking through the deserted wreckage of an abandoned warship.

"Boss, isn't this the wrong way to District Nine?" asked Mota, who had grown up in the area.

"It's a safe passage I found," Su Yi said. "No patrols or robbers."

Players had originally carved out this route together to make money smuggling.

As their numbers grew, though, it had soon been discovered.

For now, it was safe.

The twists and turns cost them time, but safety made up for it.

The three nodded in understanding, their faces full of wholehearted admiration.

An hour and a half later, all four reached the town in District Nine, drenched in sweat.

The entire district had been built around a vast, abandoned shipyard.

According to legend, it could once repair and maintain space warships over three thousand meters long.

Everywhere they looked, the place resembled a science-fiction wasteland.

Mechanical-looking buildings lined both sides of the road.

Repair shops filled the streets.

Most people wore oil-stained canvas overalls and bustled among the machinery.

Faced with this unfamiliar, bustling place, the three looked lost. "Boss, where are we going?"

Someone noticed their confusion and sensed an opportunity.

A thin, middle-aged man approached in a dusty, tattered leather jacket and gray trousers.

He removed his patched cowboy hat, revealing a bald head. "First time in District Nine, gentlemen?"

"Are you here to do business or get something repaired?"

While the three were at a loss, Su Yi said casually, "Since when did Coiled-Head Snake's people get so bad at reading faces?"

"Can't you tell locals from outsiders?"

The man froze. Then his gaunt face crumpled into an apologetic smile. "Sorry, sir! My mistake!"

He slunk away, looking embarrassed.

Coiled-Head Snake was a notorious con artist and one of the four major underworld bosses in the district.

He only swindled outsiders, though, and treated locals well enough to be called the godfather of District Nine.

The three turned to Su Yi in shock.

Alton asked quietly, "Boss, what was that about?"

"I'll explain when we get back," Su Yi said. "Stop looking around. Act tough instead of like kids visiting the city for the first time."

The three took deep breaths and assumed the intimidating manner they used when collecting debts.

After walking about two hundred meters down the main road, they turned into a winding side street on the left.

They stopped outside a building that looked like a printing plant.

The guard at the entrance tensed at the sight of them.

"Who are you?"

"Tell Ense business is here," Su Yi said.

Ense Marr was one of the resistance leaders in District Nine and the owner of the printing plant.

He was also one of the players' biggest customers.

A resistance leader and wealthy man with a love for assassinations and bombings, he posted an extraordinary variety of jobs. Many players considered him a newcomer's best friend.

Weapons and ammunition were among his most pressing needs.

Hearing his leader's name, the guard dared not delay. He immediately contacted his superior.

A minute later, the guard said, "Please come in."

He led the four past two rows of factory buildings and into a warehouse that looked like a storeroom.

Inside stood more than a dozen workers in denim overalls alongside a blond young man in a suit.

The young man was Ense Marr.

Ense sized up Su Yi. "And you are?"

Su Yi smiled. "I heard through certain channels that you needed some 'pipes,' so I thought I'd come discuss business."

Ense narrowed his eyes. "Oh? You have a source?"

"A corporate source," Su Yi said.

In the future, it would be common knowledge that the corporations had secretly backed the revolutionary army to escalate the Rhodes Alliance's civil war.

The mention of corporations eased some of Ense's doubts. "What have you got?"

Su Yi snapped his fingers. Behind him, the other three opened their clothes, putting their weapons on display in the most literal sense.

More than a dozen workers immediately drew their guns and aimed at the four of them.

Their weapons were a motley assortment, many homemade. Su Yi even spotted a young man holding a gun carved from wood.

Out of courtesy on their first meeting, Su Yi fought back a laugh.

Ense raised a hand, signaling his people to lower their weapons. His eyes gleamed as he looked at the pistols on the three men.

His people urgently needed small handguns like these.

"What's stopping us from taking them from you right now?" Ense asked.

"We have plenty more where these came from," Su Yi said with a smile. "This is just an appetizer."

"I've heard that Mr. Marr is a farsighted man of his word. A hero like you wouldn't throw away his future over a few guns."

Ense raised an eyebrow. "You have other weapons?"

"Scorpion-211 micro submachine guns," Su Yi said. "Standard five-millimeter electric rounds, sixty-round magazines, maximum rate of fire twenty rounds per second."

"Casey 191 assault rifles. Standard seven-millimeter armor-piercing rounds, fifty-round magazines. They can easily punch through the armor plating on those aristocrats' cars at two hundred meters."

After running through the specifications of six types of guns, Su Yi added, "If our partnership goes well, I can also supply Dark Star Suppressors."

Ense's eyes lit up at the name before Su Yi could say another word.

"You have quite a range of merchandise."

Su Yi smiled. "You have to come prepared when you're doing business."

Now that Ense was interested, he asked, "What's the price?"

"Fifty Void Abyss Coins per gun," Su Yi said.

"Fifty? That's robbery!" a middle-aged man beside Ense snapped.

"Don't think we don't know these guns normally sell for thirty Void Abyss Coins!"

Su Yi spread his hands. "You said it yourself: that's the normal price."

"They already cost me plenty to acquire. You know how much I've been squeezed getting them across the border, and the risks I've taken."

"Our patrols, your police—none of them are easy to deal with."

"Bribes cost money. We're only earning a little for the trouble. The officers take the lion's share."

Su Yi showed them the injuries Mad Dog had inflicted the day before, along with his burns from saving someone. "See? I got beaten up yesterday while smoothing things over."

"If you can bring your own people over to collect the goods, I can lower the price to thirty-five each."

The middle-aged man opened his mouth, then said nothing.

He knew exactly what the border was like.

Ense fell silent. At fifty Void Abyss Coins each, twenty guns would cost a thousand—not a trivial sum, even for him.

After a few seconds, Ense said, "Forty-five per gun. We'll need a lot more later."

Su Yi held firm. "No. Forty-eight is my minimum. Forty-five is too low."

"You found your way here, so you must know what we're capable of," Ense said.

"Forty-five. We'll also need a hundred Casey 191s in the future."

Su Yi considered it briefly. "Forty-eight, with ten rounds per gun."

After a moment's thought, Ense nodded. "Deal!"

"I'll need a large shipment of ammunition tomorrow. Can you get it?"

Su Yi smiled. "No problem."