At the same time, on the second floor of The Hunter’s Tavern.

  In Felix’s extravagant private booth, the atmosphere was worlds apart from the chaos downstairs.

  He held a glass of amber-colored spirits, a smile—perfectly defined by the standards of a merchant—squeezed onto his face of metal and biosynthetic skin.

  "Mr. Craig, your vision is as sharp as ever."

  Felix personally pushed the metal case containing the black pistol toward the middle-aged man sitting opposite him. The man was dressed in opulent clothing, his fingers adorned with gemstone rings.

  "This 'Cyclone' is a one-of-a-kind piece. Now, it belongs to you."

  A greasy, triumphant smile spread across the face of the man called Craig. His pudgy fingers reached out, about to touch the latches of the metal case.

  His eyes held the naked greed of a child about to unwrap an expensive gift.

  RUMBLE—

  The heavy metal doors on the first floor, weighing several hundred kilograms, were violently slammed open from the outside. The dull impact instantly drowned out all the noise in the hall.

  The entire tavern fell into a sudden, deathly silence.

  A dark green figure stood against the light, his silhouette sharply outlined by the glare from the doorway.

  He was covered in dust, and several fresh scratches had been added to his Basilisk Stone Armor. Most striking of all were the three pairs of metallic wings tucked into his rucksack, reflecting a cold shimmer in the dim light.

  An aura of rust and gunpowder, freshly brought from a slaughterhouse, swept into the room.

  Kane offered no reaction to the dozens of gazes in the hall. He walked straight through the crowd and stepped onto the creaking wooden stairs leading to the second floor.

  Creak... creak...

  The groan of the stairs was amplified infinitely in the silence, every step clearly audible.

  At the booth's entrance, the smile on Felix’s face froze.

  Opposite him, Craig knit his brows, his gaze toward this intruder filled with the displeasure of being interrupted.

  Kane walked to the table and said nothing.

  He raised his wrist, lighting up his personal terminal.

  The [ MISSION COMPLETE ] notification, along with the timestamp, was shoved directly in front of Felix’s electronic eyes.

  Immediately after, he pulled a stack of Kunlun Credits from his pocket and tossed them casually onto the table.

  "Two thousand three hundred."

  His voice wasn't loud, yet it was like a nail driven into the quiet booth.

  Felix’s crimson electronic eyes flickered violently as streams of data flashed through them.

  His gaze moved from the terminal screen to the pile of money, finally settling on Kane’s face hidden in the shadows of the hood.

  This rookie had come back alive.

  And it had taken him less than two days.

  Kane retracted his terminal. His gaze moved past Felix, his finger pointing through the air at the metal case containing The Cyclone.

  "Including the mission reward—four thousand eight hundred."

  His tone lacked any ripple of emotion. It wasn't a negotiation or a request; it was merely a statement of established fact.

  Craig’s face instantly darkened. He was about to lash out when Felix raised a hand to stop him.

  In the next second, a burst of grating laughter erupted from Felix’s metallic face.

  "Hahahaha! Good! Good kid!"

  He swatted away Craig’s fat hand as it reached for the case, picked up the metal container himself, and handed it directly to Kane.

  Unfiltered appreciation and interest flickered within his crimson electronic eyes.

  "Beautifully done! Your strength is even greater than your balls!"

  Felix leaned forward and lowered his voice, as if sharing a secret.

  "Kid... that tower is more than just a simple recovery mission. Since you made it back alive, are you interested in a job that could make you truly rich?"

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  Kane didn't even have time to respond.

  Beside them, Craig—who had been shoved aside—had a fat face flushed with the blood of humiliation, twisted and deformed.

  He felt as if he had been struck with a resounding slap in the face.

  The man extended a pudgy finger covered in rings, pointing at Kane as he roared at Felix, "Felix! This is your standard of conduct? For the sake of a junk gun, you’re letting this piece of trash crawled out of a scrap heap humiliate me?"

  The merchant's smile on Felix's face vanished instantly.

  He turned slowly toward Craig. Those crimson electronic eyes now held nothing but the cold, pulsing light of data.

  "Mr. Craig."

  Felix’s voice was flat, yet it caused the temperature in the booth to plummet.

  "My rules have only ever been one thing."

  He raised his hand, pointing at the expressionless Kane.

  "Strength is sovereign."

  "He met the threshold I set. From this moment on, he is a formal member of The Hunter’s Tavern. As for this item, he holds undisputed right of first refusal."

  Felix leaned in closer, his crimson electronic eyes nearly pressing against Craig’s face. His tone carried a bone-chilling mockery.

  "As for your 'face'... in my territory, it isn't worth a single cent."

  "You..." Craig’s fat trembled with rage, his lips quivering, yet he couldn't force out another word.

  He could feel it. In Felix’s inhuman eyes, the killing intent was no longer being concealed.

  He wasn't a fool.

  He knew that if he pushed any further, he might actually become a corpse that needed disposal by the end of the day.

  He shot a vicious glare at Kane—a gaze as poisonous as a coiled viper, as if he wanted to burn that dark green armor and the obscured face into his mind forever.

  Without another word of warning, he spun around, shoved past the waiter behind him, and stormed out in a fit of rage.

  "Kid, the rails and mine shafts of Blackrock Town are slipperier than you think."

  A venomous parting shot drifted up from the stairwell.

  "When you're walking, you’d best watch your step."

  BANG!

  The sound of a door being slammed echoed from downstairs.

  Felix didn't care in the slightest. He turned back to Kane, that playful smile returning to his face.

  He pushed the metal case containing The Cyclone toward Kane. Simultaneously, the 2,300 Kunlun Credits on the table vanished, and the 2,500 reward that had just hit Kane’s terminal account was instantly transferred away.

  The deal was done.

  Kane ignored the departing threat.

  One more person wanting him dead changed nothing.

  He opened the metal case.

  The peculiar, matte black pistol lay there silently. The vein-like green energy circuits on the frame seemed to pulse with a weak, lifelike rhythm in the dim light, synchronized with his own heartbeat.

  He reached out and gripped The Cyclone.

  A strange sense of warmth spread from his palm. The frame wasn't heavy; the polymer material fit his hand perfectly, as if it were an extension of his own body.

  As his finger curled around the trigger, the brightness of the green circuits suddenly flared, as if letting out a response of excitement.

  This gun was born to be his.

  "Since you’ve proven you aren't a waste of space," Felix sat back in his oversized chair, dropping his playfulness as his expression turned serious, "you’ve earned the right to know the truth about Windspire Tower."

  He looked at Kane, his electronic eyes performing a deep scan of his reactions.

  "Installing that repeater was nothing more than an appetizer—a test to filter out the idiots."

  Felix tapped on his data pad, projecting a new light screen between them.

  It was a completely fresh mission briefing.

  "One hundred to three hundred meters beneath Windspire Tower lies a hidden biological laboratory from the Old Era."

  Felix’s voice lowered.

  "The real mission is to infiltrate that facility and retrieve a data core left behind by Kunlun Corp from the deepest server room."

  "The reward," Felix said, tapping a finger on the light screen as a string of zeros appeared, intimidating in their magnitude.

  "Twenty thousand Kunlun Credits."

  "Plus this—"

  An image of a fist-sized, dark red crystal appeared on the screen. Inside, it looked as if magma were slowly flowing.

  "A 'Pulsing Geothermal Core.' It’s a high-grade energy block capable of powering heavy exoskeletons. It’s worth at least thirty thousand on the black market, and even then, it's nearly impossible to find."

  Felix threw down a wager that could drive any hunter mad, his crimson electronic eyes locked onto Kane.

  "Of course, with high rewards come high risks. The laboratory's defense systems went haywire long ago. Worse yet, a 'Hive' has formed inside. Before you, three elite hunter teams went in. Not a single one came out alive."

  The booth fell into a deathly silence.

  Kane remained quiet, his fingers unconsciously tracing the cold frame of The Cyclone.

  Twenty thousand credits, a Pulsing Geothermal Core...

  These things were certainly tempting, but not enough to make him lose his mind.

  He didn't ask how the three teams died, nor did he ask how strong the defense systems were.

  He raised his head, his eyes shining with a startling intensity from beneath the shadow of his hood.

  He asked only one question.

  "What is in the Hive?"

  Hearing this, a flash of approval crossed Felix’s eyes.

  This kid always managed to seize the most critical point.

  "I don't know," Felix shook his head bluntly. "All scouting drones lost their signals as they approached the core sector. The last data transmission showed an extremely high-intensity bio-energy reaction. Form: Unknown."

  He looked at Kane and added, "However, I can give you the original structural blueprints of the lab. As for what it’s turned into now... you'll have to figure that out yourself."

  With that, he slid a data chip across the table.

  Kane looked at the chip, then at the enticing rewards on the light screen.

  Danger and opportunity.

  "I’ll take it."

  His answer was short and decisive.

  He needed money—lots of it.

  More importantly, he needed powerful enemies to plunder more and stronger skills.

  This mission fit his requirements perfectly.

  "However," Kane’s tone shifted, "I don't want that Pulsing Geothermal Core."

  Felix was stunned. He hadn't expected anyone to refuse such a high-priced bonus.

  "Then what do you want?"

  "I want you to find me the best kinetic mechanic in this area."

  Kane’s voice was clear and firm.

  "Have them use the core materials I provide to custom-build me a pair of the most advanced power-legs. You will cover the cost of all auxiliary materials and their commission."

  Felix’s crimson electronic eyes flickered several times as he performed a high-speed evaluation of the deal.

  Trading a core worth thirty thousand for some materials and labor costs? Connections were the one thing he didn't lack.

  This investment was actually more profitable.

  Moreover, this kid had the confidence to provide "core materials" that would pique the interest of a high-level mechanic?

  The secrets he carried were deeper than imagined.

  "Deal."

  Felix agreed decisively.

  He liked smart business.

  Kane said no more. He picked up the data chip, turned, and left.

  He didn't linger for a second, walking straight out of The Hunter’s Tavern while ignoring the complex gazes of the crowd in the hall.

  He needed to go somewhere immediately.

  To test his new weapon.

  And to verify a crucial theory.

  Thanks for reading!

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