Old Lindun

"So I wasn't shot dead on the spot because they recognized where this firearm came from."

Suren felt somewhat fortunate. Death had brushed past him once again.

After interrogating him for over an hour, he gave the last survivor of the Silver Hand Wilderness Hunter Group a quick death.

Only then did he understand why those people had not acted earlier. It was because of the famous Three-Headed Ghost rune firearm hanging at his waist.

It was Iron Head Ivan of the Crow Gang's personal firearm, and its energy fluctuations showed that it could carry powerful special alchemical bullets.

It turned out that Bald Ivan had quite the fearsome reputation in the city called Old Lindun. He was an old assassin of the Crow Gang, ruthless and vindictive. Few dared provoke him.

Seeing Suren alone, those people had been tempted to rob and murder him. But they could not figure out his relationship with Bald Ivan, so they had tested him first.

Sure enough, no one got rich without a windfall.

Suren obtained the supplies he wanted. He now had ten more Storage Rings, as well as ample food and water.

He did not know the basic prices in this world, but seeing that the total number of alchemical bullets on the eight corpses was not even as many as Bald Ivan alone had carried, he guessed that the price he had paid had not been small either.

Still, he had definitely made a profit.

He stripped the two most valuable items from the corpse of Dick, the Silver-Arm.

A strange blood vessel and a bone.

Trembling Witch's Blood Vessel

Quality: Black Iron

Details: Job Advancement Material for the Warlock Mechanical Branch's Gunslinger; after Job Advancement, grants a moderate increase in skill and a slight increase in neural reflexes. Its cursed properties are relatively well preserved, but it requires re-enchantment to achieve optimal effectiveness;

Evaluation: Body compatibility 61%. An utterly ordinary Job Advancement Material.

Golden Humerus

Details: First Tier Alchemical Implant with high compatibility for the Gunslinger profession; it can replace part of the host's bones; Toughness +6, Stability +153%, Bone Strength +175%;

Two cursed items with intact properties.

According to Lawen, each of those items could sell for at least one hundred thousand Liso on the Black Market.

Meanwhile, an ordinary mechanical worker in this world earned no more than three thousand Liso a month.

That was already a massive sum that could make someone rich overnight.

Suren was also glad for his judgment. He had killed Dick, the Silver-Arm, at the first opportunity.

In Lawen's words, official "professionals" were all very powerful.

Dick's two Mechanical Arms had been modified in the direction of a gunslinger. He had replaced both arms with Firearm and Artillery Prosthetics. Given the chance, he would have been a Humanoid Gatling.

The flexibility of those "prosthetics" was on an entirely different level from that kind of External Skeleton.

Even if his brain was under Mind Control, his Mechanical Arms would automatically activate their Automatic Counterattack Device. That was an ability attached to his Augment Armor.

And machinery was simply outside the scope of Mind Control.

If Suren had hesitated even slightly earlier, then once the Automatic Counterattack Device of those Mechanical Arms activated, he would definitely have been the one to die.

Several days later, Suren followed the route marked on the map. After nearly dying to monsters several times, he finally arrived safely at the city known as Old Lindun.

It was also the only human settlement he had learned of from Lawen.

An underground city.

"It really is spectacular."

Although Suren had already heard people mention Old Lindun's high walls, he was still deeply shocked when he saw the concrete wall before him, as tall as a dam and over a hundred meters high.

A city whose area rivaled the main urban district of a provincial capital from his previous life was completely enclosed by such a high wall. The sheer scale of the project was enough to qualify as an architectural miracle.

Moreover, the high wall bore many terrifying marks: claw marks from giant beasts, craters like meteor impacts, and corrosion scars caused by spells.

It was hard to imagine what kind of fierce battle had taken place here, or what kind of "existences" had left so many terrifying traces of battle upon this wall.

That was right. This city was also an Ancient Relic.

It had stood here silently for thousands of years before these humans ever appeared.

The All-Seeing Eye confirmed this.

Suren stared at the high wall, and a string of text appeared.

City Wall

Details: An ancient city wall built more than fourteen hundred years ago;

Old Lindun had four enormous gates in the east, south, west, and north.

If Suren had not learned about Old Lindun in advance, he might have foolishly entered through the main gate.

Because it was the only apparent passage into such a city.

If he had done that, he would have been inspected at the gate. Without a "legal identity," he would immediately have been singled out for questioning. In the worst-case scenario, the original owner's identity would be exposed, and Suren would once again face assassination.

As for outside the high walls? Other than going out to hunt the wilderness, no one chose to live outside the city for long.

Because they could not!

It was like remaining in a nuclear radiation zone for too long. Even without encountering monsters, the violent and dense Dark Spiritual Energy would give people a high chance of "mutation."

And the most common monsters outside the city walls were mutated humans wandering everywhere.

But in fact, there was another way to enter the city: "gang smuggling."

Suren had learned a great deal of useful information from Lawen.

Old Lindun was divided into the Inner City and the Outer City.

The Inner City was where the rich and elite gathered, while the Outer City was the commoners' district.

Although the entire Old Lindun was managed by Grand Duke Roberto, who controlled the Black Tower, and the Raphael Family behind him, the actual control of most districts in the Outer City rested in the hands of the three major gangs.

There were three major gangs in the Outer City: the Steam Brotherhood in the East District, the Iron Cross Society in the South City District, and the Crow Gang in the West District.

They also represented the three mainstream branches of Alchemy in this world: the Mechanical Faction, the Fusion Faction, and the Ancient Magic Faction.

The essence of Alchemy was "Material Equivalent Exchange." The Ancient Magic Faction possessed abilities like mages, capable of casting all sorts of spells. They specialized in potion brewing, enchantment, and mysticism.

Although they could cast spells, they did not worship any elemental gods, nor did they rely on magical laws to cast them. Instead, they purely fused energy and elements, using alchemical laws to perform Equivalent Exchange to alter the forms or properties of elements.

For example, when standing on the ground, an alchemist could use Alchemy to transform the form of Earth Element and create the Earth Spike Technique. By consuming more energy, they could also use Equivalent Exchange to turn Earth Element into Fire Element and release a fireball spell.

The Mechanical Faction was also called the New School.

Their Alchemy research was more focused on creating mechanical equipment, firearms, mechs, steam devices, and Mechanical Curse Mark Implants!

The "Mechanical Prosthetics" that had puzzled Suren before were essentially semi-technological products based on Alchemy, rather than pure technology.

The Fusion Faction was a combination of the two factions. It included mechanics skilled in Mechanical Modification and ancient warlocks who studied spells. They accepted anyone.

Suren could not use the original owner's identity, which meant he had no legal identity to enter the city.

His only option was to join one of the three major gangs and be smuggled in.

The Bald Ivan he had killed earlier was a famous figure in the Crow Gang, while Dick, the Silver-Arm, belonged to the Steam Brotherhood. Although no one knew Suren had killed them, he still felt it was best to be careful.

Especially since he still had some spoils to sell. He did not want to bring trouble upon himself over that. Just like before, when someone recognized Bald Ivan's famous Three-Headed Ghost firearm and nearly killed him for his belongings.

"It seems joining the Iron Cross Society is my only option."

Suren avoided the city gate and circled around to a section of wall in the South City District.

Looking up, he saw people on top of the wall already using a crude iron-cage lift to bring people into the city.

Suren had no choice. If he wanted to enter the city, this was the only way.

Without hesitating for long, he walked over.

Joining a gang came with good benefits and plenty of supernatural resources.

But in truth, most people in Old Lindun would rather work as laborers for their entire lives than join a gang.

Because gang members had an extremely high casualty rate and short lifespans.

They took the place of the city's Public Security Office, handling Mutation Incidents, violent conflicts, and wilderness-hunting missions in their territories—fields involving combat and extremely high casualty rates.

It was somewhat like mercenaries from Suren's previous life, taking money to risk their lives on the battlefield.

Managing the chaotic slums was also the most important reason why the Black Tower of the Inner City tolerated the existence of the three major gangs.