CHAPTER 290: GOOD JOB.

The 2nd level of the Tunnel was more of a market, the first of many in the Pit. To be more accurate, the two neighborhoods stretching in front and behind the stairs were the market. The area was much more crowded, with narrower walkways due to all the stalls lining the center of the street, as well as the front of each building.

Old parts, broken electronics, scrap metal, containers filled with mystery fluid. Some had entire vehicles dismantled to bare parts and put up for sale, others brought in objects clearly ripped out of their natural place. The weirdest thing Dante saw was a couple of ancient ATMs that had clearly been around for half a century. There were shops and stalls dedicated to clothes and shoes, too.

There was no rhyme or reason to what was being sold on those stalls. Someone with a more discerning eye, like Fin, might see the value in some of the things put on display, but in Dante’s eyes, it was nothing but junk. As he looked around while ignoring the "merchants" trying to trick him into buying some of the junk, something occurred to Dante.

’Find anything interesting?’

[Nothing we could make use of.] Volcan replied. [Most are made from materials that can be found anywhere.]

Volcan had shown on more than one occasion his capability of discerning the materials of the stuff they come across, allowing them to figure out how valuable something truly is. In a way, the Pit was a much better place to find upgrade materials. Since he was only looking for things to disintegrate to their base components, even junk that can’t be fixed could serve as a proper source.

’Maybe we should stop by the lower levels once we’re done.’ Dante thought. ’We could look at the bionics sold there.’

[They sell bionics here?] Volcan asked.

’Mostly stolen stuff, just like everything else sold here. The rippers set their shops down below. Makes it difficult for police or corpos to find them.’

[I see.]

’You can also find a few engineers who make their original implants. Though it’s all low quality, as you would expect.’

In the end, they still found nothing interesting in the 2nd level’s market. The stairs to the third level soon came into sight, but instead of heading for them, Dante continued toward the residential areas.

Since there was no urban planning in this slum district, there was no dedicated address one could head to. The only thing available was a vague description of the intended building, as well as the area surrounding it. Dante was looking for a two-story building built mostly from concrete, with the front painted white. It had only one metal door and a sign with the ace of spades on it.

Finding such a unique building in the center of the slums shouldn’t have been too hard. Even then, Dante still almost missed it, only noticing the sign after passing by.

[This is not a white building.] Volcan said.

’It definitely isn’t,’ Dante replied.

In a way, it was his fault for thinking the place would be a pure cathedral made from marble. Nothing could remain clean in such a dump, so even a white building would appear brown when surrounded by dim light and rust. Sighing, Dante approached the metal door, taking a moment to look at the ace of spades sign. Pulling on his jacket, he opened the Storage screen and took out Lev’s package, holding it under his arms before proceeding to knock on the door three times.

A few seconds later, a plate that he thought was a welded patch moved to the side. A pair of eyes peered at him, then moved left and right before settling on him again.

"Hígado de toro se sirve mejor con qué?" The man said, his voice a little gruff.

Staring back at him, Dante replid "Con un estómago fuerte."

A moment of silence passed as the man scrutinized Dante. Letting out a low grunt, he slid the plate back and opened the door. He was of average height but quite muscular. Most of him, at least. His entire left side was covered in gold metallic plating, which matched his brown skin quite well. His left arm was entirely bionic, and so was his left leg. Giving them a passing glance, Dante realized they weren’t the low-quality bionics.

’Volcan?’

[Threat Evaluation: Level 2 Advanced Cyborg. Equipped for offence. The left arm is a concealed rifle. The left leg is a rocket launcher.]

’Damn...’

"Get in." The man said.

With how sketchy the area was, accepting an invitation into any of the buildings seemed like a very bad idea, but the same could be said about coming to the Pit as a whole. Dante pushed his anxiety to the back of his mind and walked through the narrow doorway. After closing the door, the man with the golden arm scrutinized him once more then gestured for him to follow.

After passing a few closed doors, they stopped at the one before the last. Knocking at the door a couple of times, the man then pushed it open and gestured for Dante to go inside.

Noticing the thick smoke blurring the light inside, Dante felt glad that he was wearing a gas mask. The door closed, leaving him inside a rather cramped room with a small table at the center, surrounded by three men. Though they all wore gas masks as well, there seemed to be leaking smoke for some reason.

[Threat evaluation: Level 2 Intermediate Cyborg. All three of them.]

Apparently, they were in the middle of a card game when Dante arrived. Looking at them one by one, he then turned to the one facing the door.

"Antonio?"

"In the flesh." The guy replied. "You got the package?"

Dante was about to reach under his arm when the other two smokers tensed up, reaching for something as well. Pretending not to notice, Dante took out the bag and placed it on the table. The man on the left carefully reached for the bag, took out the box inside it then checked the contents. A few seconds later, he turned to their leader and nodded.

"Alright then," the man said, turning his gaze back to Dante. "We have received the goods."

No sooner had he said that than Dante got a notification. A 10000G had just been deposited into his wallet, and following it was a short message.

[Lev: Good job!]

’The bastard!’

Dante’s left eye twitched and he quickly opened the messenger app. The payment had been delivered, which would mean the job was over. The Alchemist was clearly implying that, since nothing had happened up to this point, he was disqualified from receiving the bonus. Dante had anticipated such a development, so he smiled under his mask while composing his message.

[

Dante: You said it yourself.

"You’ll get it only if something happens while you’re there."

Lev: But nothing happened, right?

Dante: I’m still "there"

Lev: The job is over, though.

Dante: You never said the condition applies only during the job.

Lev: ... Fine, you have one hour.

I can’t have you waiting there just to claim the bonus.

Dante: Ok.

]

"You still need something?"

"Hm?" Looking up, Dante realized that he was still in the smoke-filled room. "Yeah, I was just about to leave."

He turned around and reached for the doorknob, but the man spoke again.

"Say, you aren’t the usual delivery guy."

Coming to a stop, Dante tensed up a little. He felt that this was it. The moment when the job goes wrong and he ends up getting caught in some bigger mess. Breathing slowly, he turned back to the man and answered evenly.

"Yeah, so?"

The man stared back at him for a few seconds, more smoke rising from the side of his mask.

"Don’t let the door frame hit you on your way out."

Dante didn’t respond, remaining still for a moment before opening the door and leaving. On his way out, the man with the gold arm opened the door for him as well, and following the advice of the other one, Dante made sure to be careful not to allow his head to be hurt.

’Damn...’

Truth be told, Dante didn’t really care about the bonus. In fact, he felt that the relief from nothing happening for once was worth a lot more than 5000G. That said, after almost getting tricked and receiving that additional condition, he felt that not getting the bonus would leave a bad taste in his mouth.

[Dante, you said that they sell bionics here, right?] Volcan said. [I would like to see the available items to get a better grasp on the prices of second-hand bionics.]

’Well, we came all the way here...’

Dante didn’t hold high hopes for anything happening in the hour he and Lev agreed on. In fact, he feared that the world would throw him a curveball as soon as the time ran out just to mess with him.

Unfortunately for him, that’s exactly what ended up happening.