John roughly figured out Oulos' action logic.

Shooting blind in the warehouse was to track the whereabouts of the Red Falcon.

Negotiating with the smugglers was to find concrete clues to confirm if she hadn't escaped from Eden City yet.

Red Falcon had been struggling on the streets for some time.

But for Eden City, she was just a rookie, with countable trusted connections, evident from what they had seen along the way.

She looked for Ghoul to sell the stolen goods and almost got double-crossed.

Wanting to leave the city secretly, she only had her old employer Yura's contact, no connections at the border checkpoint, and couldn't leverage the contacts of the Exile and Wanderer…

This guy wasn't doing well at all.

[Task Objective Updated]

[Proceed to Coordinate Location. (Not Achieved)]

"Where is she?"

John asked directly as he left the warehouse.

Oulos shook her head.

Yura didn't know where Red Falcon was either, which was normal; as a mercenary surviving to now, she would surely keep her guard up.

John and Oulos followed the coordinates all the way and found a Ghoul workshop outside a red brick house in Palmer.

A bunch of heavily modified lunatics, naked from the waist up, were coming and going. The damp alley was illuminated by neon tube lights, and a stench of disinfectant mixed with blood wafted across.

"What does Yura mean by this? Has Red Falcon been dismantled?"

John withdrew his gaze from the window of the Silver Rider 577.

"You better pray she's still alive; otherwise, it'll be trouble. Right now, your job is to get into that room and place a precise order with the boss inside."

Oulos waved from the passenger seat and ushered John out of the car.

[Task Objective Updated.]

[Proceed to Ghoul Workshop. (Not Achieved)]

The sea breeze of Palmer carried a rotten sour smell, surging along the coastline like a rising tide.

The sunset emitted the color of an old ceiling light, unevenly spread around the red brick house.

John, holding the intel and final payment given by Oulos, walked into the workshop in plain view of a group of ghouls.

This name is too poetic; it should accurately be called a slaughterhouse or a violent chip shooting base.

John pushed aside the henchmen in his way, passed through lingering smoke, and plunged into the deafening music.

He frowned as he surveyed the surroundings.

The industrial-style three-story factory had an open interior, with metal stairs for vertical movement.

The drifting plastic sheets were stained with blood.

The wet floor dragged horizontal and vertical cables, the original color nowhere in sight.

Various tools scraping against flesh could be faintly heard from the partitioned areas and rooms behind iron doors, yet even the loudest noise was drowned out by tasteless rock music.

"Hey, who are you looking for?"

A Rift Party guy with a concave head yelled from the railing.

Heavily modified lunatics mixing with bastards who knocked you out and stole your kidneys were normal here.

"Talking to you!"

The Rift Party guy's electronic eyes flickered as he casually turned off the speaker and shouted again.

"I'm looking for 'Narcotic'!"

John said to the scumbags in the room.

"I want to purchase something, 'live goods,' with specific high-grade settings. Get your boss out here!"

"Alright, wait a moment."

The concave-faced man pushed off the railing and headed towards a room.

He had just taken two steps when he suddenly turned and drew a gun.

Bam, bam bam bam!

John activated the Sianweistan, vanishing in a flash.

Bam…

The concave-faced man walked and fired, shooting madly downwards from within the second-floor railing.

"Didn't think I'd recognize you, did you? Bastard, I was in the cave when you killed Raymond, half my nose was blown off by you, damn it, stop running!"

Bam… click, click!

The concave-faced man emptied his Rongju revolver's bullets.

He pulled the trigger wildly, cursing and reloading at the same time, though his steps seemed a bit unsteady.

"Fuck! You're crazy!"

"The forked pipe sent him too high!"

The others in the room were shouting, dodging in panic.

The den plunged into chaos; no one knew why a gunfight suddenly erupted.

John leaned against a metal pillar, surprisingly the calmest one there.

Being known on the streets sure had negative effects.

You couldn't possibly get along with everyone.

It took John a moment to recall that Raymond, mentioned by the opponent, was the Rift Party's spiritual leader "Old Du."

The lunatic who had embedded himself in the driver's seat in the cave.

Clatter——

The revolver's cylinder fell onto the rusty stairs.

John turned sideways, raised his rifle, and two high-penetration bullets shattered half of his opponent's face.

He collapsed with a thud, blood pooling at the edge of the floor and dripping down within seconds.

"Damn it, someone's barged in!"

A drunken voice shouted.

The scene turned rowdy immediately, with some opening fire, others banging on doors for reinforcements.

John sighed softly.

He rolled to dodge bullets, raising his gun to counterattack, two beams of different colors weaving through the floors.

Glass shattered.

The iron staircase clanged loudly.

The hard plastic canopy puffed as air escaped.

Bodies were shattered one by one in the hallway, and with John's precise shooting, the gunfire that erupted in the corridor was actually being suppressed.

"Who sent you, bastard!"

Someone shouted while changing magazines.

"Screw you, I'm here for business!"

"Do you need to kill to do business?"

"You fired first!"

Click, thud thud, clatter——

John keenly caught the sound of something rolling unusually.

His peripheral vision caught sight of a cylinder falling onto the central floor of the factory from the second floor.

[Item: Stun Grenade Silent MX]

[Manufacturer: Raftaki Military Industry]

The artificial eye caught a number rapidly counting down to zero.

"Fuck!"

John activated the Sianweistan, flipping over a tiled pool.

Boom——

Screech——

The remaining windows of the factory shattered completely.

The Rift Party and Ghouls who fired in the room all clutched their heads and fell to the ground.

John climbed out of the pool, surrounded by a dozen new gun barrels aimed at him.

[Open fire in retaliation. (Optional)]

[Accept negotiation. (Optional)]

John could activate the Sianweistan; no one could stop him.

But then the mission would be over, and he'd return to the Silver Rider car, surely to be mocked by Oulos.

The other side didn't fire immediately, indicating they still wanted to negotiate.

Whoosh.

The cigar smoke mixed with the stirred dust.

At the door of the largest workshop upstairs.

A burly Ghoul, in a filthy white coat, leaned on the railing smoking.

Surrounded by several minions with machine guns.

[Name: Narcotic]

[Faction: Ghouls]

[Scan: Auxiliary heart, Combat Stimulant, Pain Blocker, Biological Veins, etc.]

Narcotic's skin had deep purple tattoos, and his hair and eyebrows were shaved clean,

he leaned against the railing, drooping a pair of damp gloves, while the other hand held a cigar.

His thick, pierced lips puckered as he sucked.

Narcotic squinted, staring at the mercenary in the pool and asked.

"John, I didn't mistake you, did I? What are you doing on my turf?"

"Business."

"Interesting, what do you want?"

Narcotic spoke very slowly, sounding tired, his eyes barely open.

He waved his hand, signaling for those around to lower their weapons.

It was John's first time, as an "employer," to find an intermediary to issue a task, especially since the other party was a Ghoul, among the most unscrupulous in Eden City.

[Mission Objective Updated.]

[Place an order with the Ghouls. (Not Achieved)]

He opened Oulos' intelligence file again, thought for a moment, and said.

"I want to replace the thing on my back. I hear you can get even the rarest model, so I'm here to ask."

"That's not a problem, state your demands first."

Narcotic's tone was flat, towering, his actions lazy, as if watching a boring scene of a Super Sensing Chip.

Honestly, bluffing in front of this purebred maniac was very stressful.

John shrugged and said.

"I want an Isaac Military's Sianweistan, Model 72 Sunset from the United States, not the Europe original, and no replicas, just the authentic slot."

"No reason..."

Narcotic shook his head.

John almost thought he had screwed up.

Narcotic licked his teeth, exhaled smoke, and asked.

"Why insist on this model? So many details, is it a special fetish, or something else?"

[Lie. (Optional)]

[Silence. (Optional)]

John delivered the prepared answer.

"The thing on my back is an experimental model, with limited models that can replace it without damage, it's got to be the one I mentioned!"

"Then..."

"Damn, can you do it or not, if not, I'll find another way, don't waste time."

John pressed on actively.

Narcotic didn't blink, still murmured in that lifeless voice.

"I can find it, but at five times the black market price, agree to it and I'll place the order."

"Why!"

"Your reputation isn't great, John. Many of my peers died at your hands. Although I don't mind, even thank you for clearing the competition, doing business with a mercenary like you is very stressful for me."

Narcotic sucked on the cigar, speaking threatening words in the calmest voice.

If John didn't agree, he'd have to fight his way out.

Fortunately, that wasn't his plan.

[Account balance changes...]

John waved away a wad of cash.

Of course, not full payment, but a number that showed sincerity.

Narcotic nodded, dismissed all the Ghoul watchdogs—John had transformed from intruder to benefactor, and a few dead junkies didn't affect the team much.

"Quite refreshing."

Narcotic was evidently satisfied.

But John, like a true employer, added.

"The remaining payment is possible, but I want it live."

Where did the Ghouls get their goods? Anyone could guess.

By demanding it live, John meant he'd witness the victim on the dissecting table himself.

"That... is a separate price."

Narcotic seemed a bit conflicted.

"Don't push it, I didn't haggle, but that doesn't mean I'm an idiot, the goods must be fresh, I need to personally verify, otherwise who knows what you might tamper with!"

"Tsk, tsk."

Narcotic silently puffed, the rings on his lips glistening.

John added one final comment.

"Make it quick, if the blocker wears off, if there's no news before I suffer a cyber-psychotic episode, we're going for real!"

"Heh, agreed."

Narcotic showed his only smile of the day.

It was hideous.

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