Chapter 13 Revenge

Gike seemed to be tracking someone.

He stopped and started, occasionally using obstacles to hide, his tracking skills were hardly brilliant.

He pulled his windbreaker collar up high and wore a uniquely styled pair of goggles, covering most of his face. Suren recognized it as the windproof suit from the inflatable lifeboat he had given him before, confirming his identity.

Suren looked at his limping gait and noticed the guy was missing a leg. The footprints on the ground showed one step was a footprint, and the next was a round hole. Looking closer, he noticed that his left leg was replaced by a crude, first-order wooden peg leg.

Suren was slightly puzzled when he saw this.

How did a young master from a wealthy family suddenly lose a leg?

Since he was going the same way, Suren followed for a few steps, glanced at the people walking ahead, and immediately recognized who he was tracking.

It was a young woman wearing a luxurious fox fur coat. Even with the howling wind and snow, the woman was very concerned about her appearance. Heavily made-up, she wasn't bundled up too tightly, revealing her fair neck and deep cleavage. Suren recognized her as Gike's stepmother, Marian?

The woman was also affectionately holding the arm of a man, but it wasn't Benson. It was a man carrying a greatsword on his back.

Suren remembered that this seemed to be Raman, the captain of Benson's guard.

Seeing the ambiguous way the two were acting, Suren could roughly guess what was going on.

It was likely a scenario of a newlywed wife colluding with her lover to seize the wealthy husband's property.

The fact that they were so brazen meant that Benson probably wasn't alive anymore.

Suren had a good impression of the kind middle-aged merchant. After all, Benson had "saved" him and Mr. Mirror once at sea.

However, he only glanced at them.

No matter how melodramatic other people's family affairs were, he had no intention of getting involved.

What surprised him more was that Gike was tracking a third-order professional and hadn't been discovered?

Looking again at the goggles on Gike's face, Suren appraised them and became a little interested: "He's actually weakening the target's perception through multiple mirror refractions, not a bad idea."

He had previously discovered that Gike had a very good talent for mechanics, and seeing that these were clearly hand-crafted alchemical goggles, it was obvious that the kid had made them himself.

The Blizzard City urban area wasn't large, and it didn't take long for Suren to see the couple enter a luxurious four-story hotel.

Gike stopped at the door, pretending to be a passerby.

Suren wasn't in a hurry to leave and wanted to see what he was up to.

At this moment, he saw Gike walk to a window, and after seemingly measuring the position, he stopped at a telephone pole. He looked around furtively, used his clothes to cover his movements, and took out a mechanical clock connected to a... time bomb?

Gike quickly buried the bomb in the snowdrift and hid behind a mailbox in front of the nearby post office.

Suren was intrigued, stopped, and leaned against a wall nearby: "A liquid alchemy bomb? Time-delayed detonation, and... a directional blast device?"

The homemade bomb was crude, without an outer casing, and almost all the devices were exposed.

But it was this bomb that gave Suren a bright idea. He was proficient in various mechanics, and at that glance, he almost immediately saw the various structural principles of the bomb.

It wasn't particularly ingenious, but the design concept was very unique.

"He's not using conventional powder explosives, but a more unstable liquid. A specially made nitro compound, a formula I haven't seen on the market, did he concoct it himself? Its power poses a fatal threat to third-order professionals. But... relying on the bomb alone isn't enough to kill Raman."

Seeing this, Suren understood that Gike planned to blow up the adulterous couple.

Looking at the bomb's buried position, he also had some doubts in his mind: "Precise directional blast? Is he predicting that someone will definitely jump out of the window? Heh, interesting..."

As soon as Reed thought about it, Suren immediately understood that Gike probably had also made arrangements inside the hotel room.

...

Because of his soul perception ability, Suren sensed that Marian and the guard captain Raman had gone to the third floor of the hotel, entered a room, and couldn't wait to take off their clothes and become entangled.

But just as the two were in high spirits, just as they lay on the bed ready to take things further, suddenly, with a "boom," a violent explosion was triggered.

The sound of shattered glass filled the air, and a wave of air and flames burst out of the second room on the left side of the third floor, shooting out dozens of meters.

Two disheveled figures fell from the building.

After all, Captain Raman was a third-order melee professional, and his reaction was extremely fast. The moment the explosion mechanism was triggered, he sensed the danger, protected the woman, and used the force of the explosion to smash through the window.

Seeing this scene, Suren made a light sound of surprise in his heart, "Oh, so that's how it is."

The explosion in the room didn't cause more damage, which meant that Gike had strictly calculated the amount of explosives and didn't want to harm innocent people.

If he were more ruthless, he could have used a large amount of explosives to blow up the entire floor, which would have been more successful.

Moreover, the ingenious thing about Gike's arrangement was that the explosion in the room was clearly not intended to kill the target in one go, but to prepare for a second explosion!

Even if he was a third-order professional, and was dazed by the first explosion, he probably wouldn't have expected to be attacked by a second explosion after flying out of the window.

Suren watched the two figures land next to a telephone pole on the side of the street, right where the explosives were buried, and couldn't help but praise, "What a meticulous mind, what a precise blast!"

From these points, it seemed that although Gike was not old, his mind and wisdom were excellent.

But wasn't this guy wanting to be a designer?

How could he be so talented at making bombs?

Thoughts flashed through Suren's mind in an instant.

At the moment of landing, the half-naked woman and man hadn't recovered when suddenly there was another "boom," and they were blasted away again by the force of the bomb.

This time, the two were precisely pushed onto the wall by the terrifying force of the explosion, and slammed hard against it. With a muffled "thud," limbs and flesh splattered.

How elegant they were before, how disheveled they were now.

The woman's right thigh was completely blown off, exposing white bones and rotten flesh, and she immediately fainted.

Unfortunately, the man was still wearing close-fitting leather armor, and although he spat out a mouthful of blood, it wasn't fatal.

Suren looked on without any surprise.

Relying on bombs alone to do this was already the limit.

...

Having been bombed twice in a row, there was no way Raman wouldn't have realized that he had been ambushed. The moment he slammed into the wall, his wolf-like eyes immediately locked onto the hooded figure next to the mailbox, whose reaction was completely different from that of a passerby!

With a "swoosh," Raman kicked off the ground and lunged in front of the hooded figure.

Because he wasn't wearing any equipment, he grabbed Gike's neck, lifted him up, and roared, "Damn it, who are you!"

Probably wanting to see who it was, he violently slapped off the goggles on Gike's face, revealing a slightly immature face full of determination and a cold smile.

"You adulterous dogs..."

Gike's face was full of crazy sneers, and in the struggle, he grabbed Raman's wrist. In that instant, with a "click," a mechanical lock snapped shut in his palm.

The two were locked together as if handcuffed, and couldn't break free at least for that moment.

Raman saw the explosives wrapped around Gike's cloak, his eyes instantly bulging like copper bells, and his face finally showed extreme horror.

Gike was planning to die together with the murderer who had killed his father!

Killing a third-order professional with his own strength was the most perfect plan he could think of.

But...

Unexpected things happened.

Gike desperately discovered that the bomb hadn't exploded!

Little did he know that just now, a silk thread had quietly appeared and removed the key device for triggering the bomb.

At this time, the patrol team's stern shouts also echoed in the street, and a dozen guns were pointed at the two: "Don't move!"

Suren watched the two being arrested and followed them.

It would be a pity if a bomb genius died like this.

...

The hotel was on a main thoroughfare in Blizzard City, and the patrol team reacted quickly, arriving at the scene the moment of the explosion and preventing the situation from worsening.

Because only one room in the hotel and one street lamp were destroyed, Gike's crime wasn't too serious.

The Benson family's fur business was also well-known in the city, and after hearing his explanation, the city guard didn't immediately execute him.

However, Blizzard City had its own rules.

Regardless of whether you were right or wrong, if you took action, you had to be punished.

Gike was stripped naked and hung on a cold wooden cross in the city square, to endure a day and a night of "wind torture."

As for Raman, although he was immoral, he hadn't violated the city's laws, so he wasn't punished.

Suren didn't think he had the ability to rob the execution ground, and besides, it wasn't necessary.

As long as it wasn't a serious crime, there was a back door to the "wind torture" punishment.

According to the rules, Suren paid bail to the security team, told them not to let him die, and waited to pick up the person tomorrow.

He had received kindness at sea before, and today he had repaid it.

Besides, he also felt that it would be good for Gike to feel the cold wind.

Some things need to be experienced before they can be understood.

Just like Suren had died once himself.

...

Suren left the city guard and went to the city's black market.

Stormwind City's black market was different from other places. It wasn't secretive, but almost everyone knew about it. It was a trading market specifically built for pirates and some shady businesses. Honest merchants had other places to go, and the black market was a place where pirates, criminals, and smugglers often mingled.

It wasn't on the ground, but underground.

Suren found the "Blackbeard Tavern" and, coincidentally, sensed three familiar souls when he arrived.

It was the three guys who had escaped from the Red Shark pirate gang before.

At this moment, they were arguing with the tavern owner, their faces red with anger.

"Oh! Damn it, you 'Red Sharks' took the ransom and assured me that the hostage was alive. Now where is he, where is he?! Now how am I supposed to explain to the people from the Tulip Chamber of Commerce?"

"Damn it, the brothers in the gang were all killed, what explanation do you want from us? We might as well return the money to those guys!"

"It's not about the money, it's about reputation! Do you understand, it's about reputation!"

"..."

Pirates also had their own rules. Without credibility, they couldn't survive in the underworld.

Suren listened for a few sentences. It seemed that the three of them wanted to find someone to help them find the murderer who had wiped out their pirate gang.

He didn't pay much attention. If he met them again in the future, he would just kill them.

He walked out of the back door of the tavern, passed through a door guarded by several burly men in leather jackets, and went underground.

Suren went down more than ten meters along the iron stairs and immediately heard a noisy clamor.

This was a street paved with dark red floor tiles, with various crowded buildings on both sides. Neon lights of various colors illuminated the street, and it was a scene of prosperity and liveliness.

The ground was bitterly cold, but this underground street was very warm. The spider web-like network of steam pipes overhead brought enough heat to this underground space.

The streets were crowded with people, most of them were adventurers in leather jackets and boots, with exposed weapons and unkind faces. There were also many people dressed in cloaks and masks, and Suren was inconspicuous in the crowd.

The black market sold a variety of things, with both stores and stalls.

Various alchemy materials shops, controlled military equipment, smuggled alcohol, hallucinogenic potions...

As long as it was profitable, it could almost be found here.

Of course, most of the goods were much cheaper than in the regular market.

Suren found the "Dark Elf's General Store" where Bonn often came to sell his goods.

The store was densely packed with various goods, and the space was very cramped.

The owner was a fat black woman.

When Suren arrived, there were still a few people in the store selecting goods.

The fat shopkeeper greeted Suren, "Guest, what do you need?"

Suren: "Give me some 'Ocean's Wind'."

Hearing this, the fat shopkeeper knew that a regular had arrived, and invited him to the compartment in the store.

There was a soundproof barrier there.

After entering the compartment, Suren went straight to the point and asked, "I want that batch of goods that 'Poison Frog' Bonn sold here before. Price is no problem."

The fat shopkeeper sized Suren up, didn't ask any more questions, and took out two storage rings, saying, "Except for what's been sold, everything is here."

Suren looked at them, mostly jewelry and accessories robbed by pirates, but none of his own things. He then asked directly, "I'm looking for two rings. They look like this."

As he spoke, he sketched out the approximate characteristics of the two rings on a piece of parchment.

The fat shopkeeper obviously remembered and her eyes flashed with understanding, "Oh, I remember those two rings. They were both very high-level alchemical items. However, they've already been sold."

Suren frowned when he heard this and asked, "Can I know who they were sold to?"

The fat shopkeeper didn't say it directly, looked at him, and only said faintly, "You should know that this is against the rules."

The rules weren't that it couldn't be said, but that there wasn't enough money to say it.

Suren also understood the business and took out a stack of banknotes.

"Well..."

The fat shopkeeper pressed down on the thickness of the banknotes with her finger, and then said with a reluctant look, "A little girl bought them this morning. I don't know her, she looked like an outsider."

Suren added more money and asked, "Is there more accurate information?"

Seeing the money, the fat shopkeeper revealed more detailed information, "She had freckles on her face, wore a big braid, and wasn't very old. She looked very cultured, and should have come from a big city. She bought some adventure supply equipment, and seemed to be going on an adventure in the forest. You can go to the Adventurers' Guild, maybe you'll run into her. Of course, if you're willing to spend money, you can ask the 'Smuggling Gang' guys. They should be able to get more information."

Hearing this, Suren knew that he couldn't get any more information, took out another stack of money, and instructed, "This is to buy my own information."

The fat shopkeeper understood and smiled brightly, "Of course, no one will hear from me that you came here."

Suren turned and left.

He didn't expect that the other party would definitely not sell him out.

But the black market had its own rules. At least not in certain special circumstances, these people would still do things if they took the money.

...

Suren didn't expect things to go so smoothly, and only hoped that the person who bought his ring hadn't left Blizzard City yet.

In any place, being willing to spend money where you can will save a lot of effort.

Finding the local mafia would be very efficient.

Suren didn't look for them himself, but found someone from the "Smuggling Gang" in the black market. He gave a generous reward for a missing person request and also inquired about the information on the main materials he needed for his third-order colonial armor.

Then, while he waited for news, he wandered around the black market.

The Northern Ice Field had many specialties, such as [Cold Iron Ore], magic cores, high-grade wood, and some special magical beast materials.

Suren was now advancing, and just needed some high-level materials to make puppets, and he found many good things in the black market.

Moreover, to Suren's surprise, he actually saw many things from Old Lingdun here!

For example, those mechanical devices with obvious Lu Ying technology styles that didn't fit in, and even saw several sets of the [Frost Giant Armor] from the Old Lingdun inner city guard. There were also some parts that were obviously dismantled from large mechanical equipment. It looked like those pirates had dismantled them from the inner city laboratory...

After inquiring, these things really came from pirate channels, and there were quite a few of them in the black market now.

Many mechanical devices were different from the mechanical systems on the ground, and not many people were really interested in buying them.

Suren then felt that he had found a great bargain, and spent another hundred million, buying a pile of equipment.

With these things, his progress in studying mechanical puppets would be much faster.

However, he also discovered that mechanical research was really a money-burning path. He had come to the black market and bought some small machines, and his family fortune was almost emptied.

Fortunately, good news also came.

The efficiency of the local mafia was indeed very high.

Suren received an accurate reply not long after he posted the reward.

The person he was looking for was at the "Star Hotel" in the north of the city.

Suren didn't dare to delay and went directly to the north of the city and met the girl who had bought the ring.

When he asked, the thing was really in her hands.

Suren also breathed a sigh of relief.

However, the girl's attitude made him a little embarrassed.

...

"My name is Katyusha, and I'm a trainee 'Astrologer'. What should I call you, sir?"

"You can call me Nicholas. I'm sorry, Miss Katyusha, those two rings are keepsakes left to me by my elders. There was a bit of an accident before, which is why they ended up in the black market. If possible, I'd like to buy them back. How do you think it would be appropriate to part with them?"

"But... my teacher said that the rings are very helpful for learning, and I need them very much too. If I really lose them, I'm afraid I won't be able to find such good alchemical items in the future."

"..."

Suren knew that if it were him, he wouldn't believe it if someone came up and said that the treasure was theirs.

He arranged to meet her in the hotel's coffee shop.

Facing the young girl with freckles and flaxen braids in front of him, Suren behaved politely and gentlemanly.

After all, the other party had bought it with money and was still acting politely, so Suren couldn't just kill her and rob her.

Moreover, he had also discovered a problem.

If it were before, he would have thought that the person in front of him was a little girl from the city who had come to adventure.

But now, in his soul perception, this "Katyusha's" soul was very erratic.

It was as if his perception was being interfered with.

For example, by some special cursed objects.

Having discovered this, Suren felt that something seemed to be wrong.