Chapter 1 Aftermath of War

　　After the last major battle between the Steam Party and the Cross Society gangs, both sides suffered significant losses.

　　Suren had also heard some news in the black market's high-level professional circle, saying that Mrs. Fino, the financial backer behind the Cross Society, had been having a hard time recently, which had also led to the entire Cross Society's internal economic situation not being so good.

　　Although the Cross Society looked no different from usual, still a dominant gang in the Southern District, Suren also saw some signs. The higher-ups were much more low-key, the most obvious sign being that the gang's expansion had almost stagnated.

　　The veterans' treatment hadn't changed, but the number of new recruits had drastically decreased.

　　Kai, the captain with only one team member, had been a lone commander for some time.

　　Therefore, this idle fellow was constantly thinking about finding trouble with the Steam Party.

　　.......

　　The night was dark and the wind was high.

　　On a secluded, abandoned overpass in the Western District, two armed masked men were quietly lying in ambush.

　　Suren aimed his sniper rifle, targeting the end of the highway in the distance.

　　Kai, with a blade of grass in his mouth, was also observing with binoculars.

　　When Suren first heard Kai's idea of "pulling off a big one," he was actually against it in his heart.

　　He wanted to develop stealthily; he needed a lot of time to digest all the knowledge he had.

　　But the reality was that his dwindling funds forced him to find ways to make money.

　　Suren was facing a huge financial shortfall. The rewards and spoils from the last gang fight had been mostly used up.

　　Whether it was his mechanical research, the making of strange dolls, or Danny's potion brewing, they were all money-burning bottomless pits.

　　The more advanced the materials, the more money they cost.

　　Just give some materials and you can brew potions?

　　Only outsiders would say such a thing.

　　Low-level potions were fine, but high-level potions were difficult.

　　Just the precision instruments needed to brew the potions were various... The more advanced the potion you wanted to brew, the more demanding the equipment requirements. Even secondhand goods from the black market weren't cheap, costing tens or hundreds of thousands, not to mention the considerable maintenance and repair costs...

　　And to ensure the success rate and obtain low-impurity potions, you also had to have a sterile laboratory.

　　Danny said that according to the standards of the Inner City laboratories, a standard, ordinary laboratory would cost hundreds of millions. Not to mention those specially developed special instruments...

　　Small-scale potion brewing methods had extremely low yields. Brewing a few potions was a gamble. But Suren wanted to make this a long-term way to make money, so some investment was essential. In the end, he gradually put together a low-configuration potion laboratory, which also cost several million.

　　Then there were the attempts at advanced strange dolls, with each failure costing tens or hundreds of thousands in wasted materials... This was also a necessary cost for becoming stronger.

　　Then there was the series of mechanical research like "Iron Man Mark II"...

　　Suren calculated that he needed to save a large sum of money to buy the things he needed that the Wasteland Hunters brought back from the ruins.

　　The spiritual secret method, [Lamenting Witch's Cursed Hair], or if he encountered suitable cursed materials for him to advance to the second tier... These were the real big-ticket items.

　　He didn't want to miss the opportunity because he didn't have money.

　　A man cannot get rich without unexpected wealth, and this is even more cruel in this other world.

　　If you want to make money, there is no faster way than robbing rival gangs.

　　.......

　　Kai said with an excited face, "Hehe... I've always heard that Steam has channels to get mechanical equipment from the Inner City. This time, I really caught them. This time, I heard that a batch of 'military-grade mechanical equipment' that the City Guards just replaced was being transported. There's quite a bit, I estimate it's worth at least tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions..."

　t a secret that the Steam Party's financial backer had channels to get controlled mechanical equipment from the Inner City.

　　Otherwise, it would be impossible for some back-alley mechanics to support such a large gang's prosthetic modification and research business. Not to mention the truly cutting-edge mechanical prosthetics of the Steam Party's high-end combat power.

　　"Captain, you've said that for the eighth time..."

　　Suren joked with a smile.

　　Hearing this, he was initially looking forward to it.

　　If, as Kai said, this batch of goods was worth hundreds of millions, it would really be worth robbing.

　　But the two of them had been squatting here for almost two days and nights, and hadn't seen a single ghost.

　　Besides knowing that the Steam Party's convoy would take this road, Kai's other information was very limited. Things like the transport time, the amount of goods, and the configuration of the escort personnel were all "speculation."

　　However, it was because of the uncertainty of this information that the two of them had patiently squatted for so long.

　　As fellow gang members, they knew very well that the higher the level of secrecy, the more valuable the goods being transported.

　　"I say, Captain, could your information be wrong? This route is so remote, and past it is the Barren Park. Even if it's mechanical equipment, it should be sent to the Steam Party's various strongholds. Sending it to this wilderness is not very reliable..."

　　Suren wasn't impatient about waiting. He was just joking.

　　The road was overgrown with weeds and didn't look like a proper transportation route.

　　However, apart from the route being a bit remote, everything else fit the circumstances of a secret transport.

　　Kai was also a bit bored and had an indifferent expression: "Who cares, anyway, we're idle. We'll wait here. If they don't come, we won't lose anything; if they do come, we'll make a profit!"

　　"Hehe, you don't even know what the enemy's escort strength is, and you're already sure you can succeed?"

　　Suren also felt that it was just

　　Kai didn't care and said, "The standard escort configuration is just a captain-level combatant leading the team. Your marksmanship is so good, and there's me... The two of us are enough to kill them all."

　　"Heh..."

　　Suren smiled noncommittally.

　　Coincidentally, at this moment, he discovered something in the sniper scope and said softly, "They're here!"

　　He observed carefully and then said, "A total of three vehicles! One truck, two jeeps... Drivers plus escort personnel, I see a total of twelve people!"

　　This was a pretty standard escort configuration.

　　"Damn, they really came!"

　　Kai was also overjoyed.

　　He used high-powered binoculars to clearly see the appearance of the people in the vehicles and shared the information he knew, "The escort captain is 'Barbarian' Buck Vista, a veteran professional of the Steam Party. His talent is [D-003-Bloodlust Berserk]. After berserking, he can block pain and increase strength. His prosthetic modification is a honeycomb gun arm... Are you confident?"

　　"No problem."

　　Suren narrowed his eyes and nodded.

　　He remembered this person. He was indeed quite strong.

　　But as long as he was a tier 1 mechanical warrior, he didn't pose much of a threat in his eyes.

　　Suren wasn't careless and scanned the other eleven people on the vehicles.

　　Most of them looked familiar, and since "Barbarian" Buck was sitting in the passenger seat of the lead vehicle, it meant that there shouldn't be anyone of higher status than him in the convoy.

　　Having confirmed that the enemy's escort force was just a standard elite squad of twelve, the two of them breathed a sigh of relief.

　　The convoy slowly approached. Kai licked his lips, "Hehe, then Suren, you stay here and snipe. I'll go to the ambush point."

　　Suren nodded: "Okay, be careful. Act according to the plan. If there are any accidents, retreat immediately."

　　"Okay."

　　Kai deactivated his implants and quietly sneaked down.

　　.......

　　Because it was an ambush, Suren and Kai had pre-buried anti-tank mines.

　　Just as the convoy entered the ambush circle, the leading jeep ran over a landmine, and with a "boom," it instantly turned into a ball of fire and was blown away for more than ten meters.

　　Seeing the ambush, the escort convoy showed no signs of fighting back and immediately planned to turn around and escape.

　　But there were also mechanical landmines modified by Suren on the ground behind them. As soon as they turned around, they triggered the landmines that could only be triggered by reverse crushing, and another Steam jeep was blown up into the sky.

　　Suren wasn't idle either. He aimed the truck's driver through the sniper scope and pulled the trigger at the right opportunity.

　　But unexpectedly, the alchemical bullet didn't penetrate the glass!

　　"Bulletproof glass?"

　　Suren frowned and suddenly felt something was strange.

　　If such a large windshield could block an alchemical bullet, it wouldn't be cheap. The modification price would be worth more than an ordinary truck.

　　At least, it was definitely not something that this seemingly rusty transport truck would normally have installed!

　　He immediately told Kai about the abnormality through the communicator: "Captain, the truck has bulletproof glass. Be careful."

　　"Roger!"

　　The vehicles at the front and rear had already been blown up. Seeing that the robbery was about to succeed, Kai naturally couldn't give up.

　　Seeing the truck trying to run, he nimbly darted from the roadside into the bottom of the vehicle, and then saw that the bottom of the vehicle was also equipped with blast shields, with no place to grab.

　　"Fortunately, I was prepared..."

　　Kai muttered in his heart, took out a suction cup to attach himself to the bottom of the vehicle, and then installed a Suren-modified suction alchemical bomb on the pipe.

　　Activating the detonator, he rolled out from under the vehicle. The truck tried to escape like crazy, but suddenly there was a loud explosion.

　　Although the vehicle wasn't overturned, the alchemical bomb also blew through the power pipe under the bulletproof plate at the bottom of the vehicle, causing the truck to break down completely.