Chapter 1 A Stroke of Luck

“So, the reason these guys didn’t just shoot me was because they recognized this firearm...”

Suren was somewhat relieved; he’d narrowly escaped death again.

After interrogating the last survivor of the “Silver Hand Wasteland Hunter Gang” for over an hour, he granted him a quick death.

Only then did he understand why these guys hadn’t attacked earlier: it was because of the runic firearm at his waist – the famous gun, [Three-Headed Ghost].

It was the personal weapon of Ivan "Iron Head" of the Crow Gang, capable of handling the energy fluctuations of high-powered, specialized alchemical bullets.

It turned out that Baldy was a notorious figure in that city called 'Old Lingdun'. He was a veteran assassin in the Crow Gang, ruthless and vindictive, and few dared to provoke him...

Those guys saw that Suren was alone and planned to rob and kill him. But they were unsure of his relationship with Baldy Ivan, so they probed him first.

.......

Sure enough, one cannot get rich without taking risks.

Suren got the supplies he wanted, and his storage ring now contained ten more rings, as well as plenty of water and food.

He didn’t know the basic prices of things in this world, but seeing that the combined number of alchemical bullets on these eight corpses was less than Baldy alone, he guessed that the price he paid was probably not small.

Still, it was definitely a profit.

He stripped two of the most valuable items from the corpse of “Silver Hand” Dick.

A strange blood vessel and a bone.

[Cursed Object: Trembling Witch's Blood Vessel]

Quality: Black Iron

Details: A material for the Warlock Mechanical class 'Gunner'; After taking the class, gain a moderate increase in skill and a small increase in neural reflexes. The cursed properties are relatively well preserved, but require re-enchantment to achieve optimal efficacy.

Evaluation: Body compatibility 61%, a mediocre class advancement material.

[Golden Humerus]

Details: A first-order alchemical implant, with high compatibility for the Gunner class; it can replace part of the host's bones; Resilience +6, Stability +153%, Bone Strength +175%.

Two cursed items with intact properties.

According to that Laun, each of these items could fetch at least ten thousand Lisol in the black market.

And the average mechanical worker in this world earns no more than three thousand Lisol a month.

This was already a fortune that could make someone rich overnight.

Suren was also very glad he made the right decision to kill "Silver Hand" Dick first.

In Laun’s words, formal "professionals" were all very strong.

Dick's two mechanical arms were modified in the direction of a Gunner. He had replaced both arms with gun and cannon prosthetics, and given the chance, he would definitely have become a humanoid Gatling gun.

The flexibility of these "prosthetics" was on a completely different level than that of external exoskeletons.

Even if his brain was under mind control, his mechanical arms would automatically activate counterattack devices, which were abilities inherent in the implants.

And mechanics were completely outside the scope of mind control.

If Suren had hesitated even slightly, waiting for the automatic counterattack device of the mechanical arm to activate, he would have been the one to die.

......

Several days later, Suren followed the route on the map and, after almost dying several times encountering monsters, finally arrived safely at the city called "Old Lingdun".

This was also what he learned from that Laun, the only human settlement.

An underground city.

“It’s really magnificent...”

Although Suren had heard about the high walls of "Old Lingdun" from people's mouths, he was still quite shocked when he saw the hundred-meter-high concrete wall that looked like a dam.

A city with an area no less than the main urban area of a provincial capital in his previous life was completely surrounded by such a high wall. The sheer amount of work was a veritable architectural miracle.

Moreover, there were many terrifying traces left on the high wall: claw marks of giant beasts, crater marks like those of meteorite impacts, corrosion marks caused by spells...

It was hard to imagine what kind of fierce battles had taken place back then, and what kind of "existence" had left so many terrifying battle traces on this wall.

Indeed, this city was also an ancient relic.

Long before these humans appeared here, it had silently stood here for thousands of years.

Omniscient Eye confirmed this.

Suren looked at the high wall, and a string of words appeared.

[City Wall]

Details: An ancient city wall built more than 1,400 years ago.

.......

Old Lingdun had four huge city gates: east, south, west, and north.

If Suren hadn't learned about the situation in this "Old Lingdun" beforehand, he might have foolishly entered through the main gate.

Because that was also the only passage that seemed to allow entry into this kind of city.

If that were the case, then he would be inspected at the city gate. And since he didn't have "legal status," he would immediately be singled out for investigation. The worst result would be that the original owner's identity would be exposed, and Suren would face another assassination attempt.

As for outside the high walls? Except for those who came out to hunt in the wasteland, no one would choose to live outside the city for a long time.

Because... they couldn't!

Just like being in a nuclear radiation zone for a long time, even if you didn't encounter monsters, the狂躁 (kuang zao) and dense dark spiritual energy would lead to a high probability of "mutation."

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

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

.......

Suren learned a lot of useful information from that Laun.

Old Lingdun was divided into an inner city and an outer city.

The inner city was a gathering place for the rich and elite, while the outer city was a slum.

Although the entire Old Lingdun was managed by Grand Duke Roberto, who controlled the "Black Tower," and the Rafael family behind him, in reality, the majority of the outer city was under the actual control of the three major gangs.

The outer city had three major gangs: the "Steam Brotherhood" in the eastern district, the "Iron Cross Society" in the southern district, and the "Crow Gang" in the western district.

They also represented the three main branches of alchemy in this world: the Mechanical faction, the Fusion faction, and the Ancient Magic faction.

The essence of alchemy was "equivalent exchange of matter." The "Ancient Magic faction" had the ability to cast various spells like magicians. They were good at potion making, enchanting, and occultism.

Although they could cast spells, they did not believe in any elemental gods. They did not rely on magic rules to cast spells, but purely on the fusion of energy and elements, using alchemical rules to equivalently exchange and change the form of elements, or change the properties of elements.

For example, an alchemist standing on the ground could use alchemy to transform the form of earth elements to form [Earth Spike Art]; they could also consume more energy to equivalently exchange earth elements into fire elements and release [Fireball Art].

The "Mechanical faction" was also called the New faction.

Their alchemy research direction was more used to manufacture mechanical equipment, guns, mechs, steam equipment... and mechanical rune 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, with mechanical engineers who were good at mechanical modification and ancient mages who studied spells, and welcomed all comers.

.......

Suren couldn't use the original owner's identity, so he had no legal status to enter the city.

He could only choose to join one of the three major gangs and be smuggled in.

The Baldy Ivan he killed earlier was a big name in the "Crow Gang", and that "Silver Hand" Dick was from the "Steam Brotherhood". Although no one knew that Suren had killed these people, he thought it was best to be careful.

Especially since he still had some spoils to sell, he didn't want to cause trouble for himself because of it. Just like how he was almost robbed and killed because he was recognized as possessing Baldy Ivan's famous gun, [Three-Headed Ghost].

"It seems like I can only join the 'Iron Cross Society'..."

Suren avoided the city gate and detoured to a section of the wall in the southern district.

Looking up, he saw that someone on the city wall had already put down a simple iron cage elevator to pick up people entering the city.

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

Without much hesitation, he walked over.

Joining a gang had good benefits and enough extraordinary resources...

But in reality, the vast majority of people in Old Lingdun would rather be workers for the rest of their lives than join a gang.

Because... the casualty rate of gang members was extremely high, and their lifespan was short.

They replaced the city's public security bureau and would deal with mutation incidents, violent conflicts, and wasteland hunting missions in their jurisdiction... These areas involving combat had a very high casualty rate.

It was a bit like the mercenaries in Suren's previous life who took money to the battlefield to sell their lives...

The poorly managed slums were also the most important reason why the "Black Tower" in the inner city tacitly allowed the existence of the three major gangs.