novelnext Chapter 34: A Helping Hand
Chapter 34: A Helping Hand
chapter 34: a helping hand
hearing what song 6pus said, sun jack hesitated no longer. if he was already working as a mercenary, what was there to fear about danger?
"i'm in."
once sun jack agreed, the others quickly followed suit. it was obvious that, despite sun jack's admission that his abilities were currently unstable, the team still saw him as a safety net. some members even reconsidered joining the team specifically because of his talents.
"alright, then! we're all set. let's head back, get some rest, and prep our weapons. tomorrow night, we make our move." song 6pus grabbed his chopsticks and began devouring his meal enthusiastically.
midway through eating, he mumbled to himself, "oh yeah, i still need to find bait. system, set a reminder for me."
sun jack, who was picking through his plate trying to find anything edible, perked up at the mention of "bait."
"find bait? what kind of bait are you looking for?"
"someone that matches the victims' profiles—young, female, with no visible prosthetics," song 6 replied, sending images of the victims' faces directly to sun jack's ui.
"if you're planning to recruit someone as bait for such dangerous work, you should at least pay them well, right?"
"of course! do you think anyone in the metropolis would do it for free? oh, and by the way, the payment's coming out of the operating budget. we'll split it."
after a moment of contemplation, sun jack spoke up. "i'll see if i can find someone for the job."
"fine by me," song 6pus replied. he had no reason to argue over such a trivial matter, especially since sun jack's involvement likely meant he was looking to skim a little extra for himself, just like everyone else.
when sun jack got home, he stuffed a pile of takeout boxes into his empty refrigerator. though the sight was unappealing, food was food, and with how expensive a meal cost, he couldn't afford to waste it.
sinking into the couch, he accessed his system and began searching for someone named aa. with her appearance and name known, it wasn’t hard to track someone down in a networked system.
"who is it?" a haggard-looking aa asked cautiously through the video call.
"rpg. i want rockets."
"get lost. too expensive."
"cheapskate. then at least buy some grenades."
the last fight had taught sun jack the importance of preparation. after much deliberation, he accessed the combat prosthetics store.
"backup heart... subdermal armor... titanium skeleton..." a plethora of combat prosthetics scrolled past his screen, but they were all out of his price range. ŗ₳nobęs
"is there nothing cheaper?" the absurd cost of food and combat prosthetics in the metropolis was appalling, especially when cars and electronics were so cheap in comparison. on his current potential weekly income of 0.15@ as a customer service rep, he wouldn’t even be able to afford meals.
"forget it. let’s ask king kong." secondhand goods might be his only affordable option.
"hey, king kong, got any combat prosthetics for around 10@?" sun jack asked. with the potential 20@ payout from this job, he figured spending half to improve his chances was reasonable.
the hologram of king kong lit up with excitement at the prospect of a sale. "oh? what kind of combat prosthetic does master sun need? i’ll even give you a 20% discount!" he sent over a link to his online store.
browsing the listings, sun jack found them to be at least 60% cheaper than official prices. clearly, king kong was the right person to call.
"now, what should i get?" sun jack scrolled through the options, searching for something effective against cyber psychotics.
after much deliberation, he settled on the hpmw interference model 2 prosthetic eye. this eye could emit a narrow-band microwave electromagnetic pulse once per minute, effective against electronic components.
besides its interference feature, the prosthetic also came with night vision—two functions for the price of one.
he chose this model because of his last encounter with the bald man, though unlike that man’s emp, this was limited to single targets. still, the lack of area-wide disruption meant tapai could fight alongside him without risk of being disabled.
after negotiating with king kong, sun jack managed to secure free installation as part of the deal.
an hour later, a beaming king kong arrived at sun jack’s apartment, accompanied by his cybernetic buddha, which carried a large bag of equipment on its back.