CHAPTER 272

Step two of the plan: Saint’s article. Yeah, that was it. Not only was it going to deep dive into the attempted Medtech monopolization, but also some of the other documents I klept from their file room. It was a massive expose he’d been working on since before I even met the guy. He had everything he needed now to bring it to life.

Until then? I had to wait. Once he got the article up, I’d have to move quick, but until then I was good to just hang around. It was fine. I had some other stuff I really wanted to start working on. The hover bike, for one. My printers also finished up all the stuff for the electromagnetic weapon a while back, so I also wanted to slap that together.

I started with the coil-gun. It was easy enough to get put into shape. I opted for a pistol type, shifting my original design slightly. Pistols were just easier to operate and carry. I gave up a bit on power since I was sacrificing a few coils to get a smaller barrel, but that was fine. I’d be able to upkeep the charge of a pistol easier for now too using my electrokinesis.

I wanted an adjustable coil width to easily change what kinds of bullets I could use. Back when originally designing the thing, I wanted it to be able to shoot grenades as well as normal projectiles. My original design was clunky—way too clunky for a pistol. The coils were dozens of times bigger than they should’ve been, making the whole thing unwieldy.

I adjusted the design drastically, cutting out the servos for a different, much smaller mechanism. Quantum Automation’s microelectronics training was proving to be more and more useful with everything I built these days. Making stuff small was generally just better for me. It made it easier to hide, and hiding was half my battles.

The power unit also got some reworks, though not as much. I just linked up a converter to it so I could charge the gun with my own bio-electricity. Simple enough. It should work with my stored charge too.

Then came the Whisper mode, which was basically a superior silencer. It fired the projectile just below the speed of sound, eliminating the crack that a normal gunshot would have. A bit less force, but perfectly quiet. The change in force could be fixed with slightly larger projectiles anyway.

I also threw on the non-lethal option that Sentinel’s version had. It was more for riot-control, but I could hopefully get quite a bit of use out of it. As things stood currently, I didn’t really have that many non-lethal options outside of just sneaking around the issue.

I took the complete version of the coil-gun down into the Underground and tested it against some chrome. The nice thing was that I had infinite ammo with it. I summoned out the golden-scale of Transmutation and tossed a piece of Crystalized Electricity onto it. The other pan evened out with bits and pieces of steel appearing on it.

Just like that—ammo. Since it fired off electromagnetism, I didn’t need to worry about gunpowder or anything like that. I just needed electricity, which I now produced naturally thanks to my Kinetic ability. It was literally an infinite ammo weapon. I’d have to worry about it breaking down, but otherwise it should be perfect.

I fired into some old chrome at max power. The metal projectiles cracked across the space, easily piercing into it. For such a small weapon, it packed a serious punch. The issue with a coil-guns’ kick was that it was choppy. Every time the projectile passed through a coil, it pushed back on me in waves. Sentinel had a few tricks, but it was still something to look out for.

I swapped to the Whisper mode and fired off a dozen shots. They were absolutely silent, though they didn't do nearly as much damage. They bounced mostly harmlessly off of the chrome. I’d have to use it to hit weak points if I wanted to do any real damage with it. Considering most of my shots would be in Whisper mode though? Not too bad.

And finally, the non-lethal mode. I didn’t have anything biological to test it on, but it looked like it was working. It was silent just like Whisper mode thanks to its limited velocity. It was nice to have options open, if nothing else. Who knew? One day I may need to take out dozens of civilians without killing them.

With the basic electronics working, I finished up the pistol’s frame to cover everything up. By the end of it all, the coil-pistol was done. Not exactly pretty. It looked closer to a water bottle slapped onto a pistol than anything else, but it would work.

「Bounty - New Tech - Complete

*

Create something new

*

Reward: 5 EF」

The interface popped up with a bounty completion. I wasn’t expecting that, but more EF was always nice. I should really look through the bounties more and try to do them some time.

After clearing up my workspace, I moved onto the hover bike. Unfortunately, I needed a lot of parts for it. To date, it was my biggest project. I could make a bunch of them with my SITCH metal printer, but it’d take too much time. Instead of doing all of that, I just started printing what I couldn’t find out in the wild.

I geared up, grabbing everything I’d need, and shot a text to Saint. ‘How much longer?’

His reply came just as I got back up to my bike. ‘A day at most. Double checking everything. We need this to be perfect to have the kind of effect we want.’

’ETA?’

‘Tomorrow morning. I’ll wait to launch it on City of Sorrows until you’re ready.’ That was his site? I faintly remembered checking it out in passing.

‘Chek.’ That was fine. Really, he was already working hard to get it all done in just a day. I was being impatient… but Operation Milburn was nearing its completion. The up to date documents I stole had a full list of every clinic that’d already signed. It wasn’t a small list. Even if we took pressure of Nael, the corporation already got half of what they wanted.

I pulled out of the area. My destination this time around? The AEZ… Yeah, never thought I’d be going back there. There were abandoned vehicles all over it though, so it was as good a place as any to find what I wanted. If I was lucky, I might even be able to hit a few downed flyers and get it all in one place.

My stomach churned when I drew closer and closer to the World Tree sticking up out of the place. The walls had been completed at some point. Massive reinforced concrete structures stretched up like skyscrapers. There were several gates into the place, each one patrolled and guarded by the FSA.

I wasn’t the only one coming to the AEZ. Parking was surprisingly difficult to find. There were even quite a few vehicles from other city-states scattered around. It seemed word had spread about the AEZ. Treasure hunters, mercs, and hopefuls from all over flocked to this place to strike it rich.

There was even a line for the main gate. I joined it, standing around with all sorts of chromed out psychos, looters in tac-gear, and squads of mercs. Quite a rowdy bunch, though thankfully the line passed quickly.

A bored FSA guard sat in a booth just before the gate, stopping me. “Entry into the AEZ?”

”Chek.”

”As per the council’s decree, there’s a fifty Rayn entry-fee.” The man intoned blandly. “You do understand the danger of the AEZ, right? So far, there’s an eighty percent chance of death or dismemberment.”

”I understand.” I’d be fine… probably. I’d just sneak by anything dangerous. Besides, I’d already been through here once in the middle of a war. How bad could it be now?

The guard waved me on, shaking his head. “Next!”

Just like that, I was let through the massive walls. The other side had a small encampment of FSA troops, but beyond that? The ruined city lurked. There were all sorts of mercs and people camped out around the entrance on this side. It was probably one of the few safe zones in this entire area.

It was also very green. I’d noticed it before, of course, but plants were growing so much quicker than they used to. Grass, moss, and vines grew on everything, making the abandoned city look overgrown already. It felt like New Tress City all over again, albeit on a smaller scale.

I avoided the groups I spotted and headed out into the streets. I kept my Blinder and Stealth Perks active, skipping past several blocks. I highly doubted that there’d be anything left after this time. Most of the close areas would already be stripped clean by now.

There were a few groups here and there that I bypassed with ease. Nothing too dangerous. For me, that is. Gunfights broke out by the dozens, and that was just what I could hear. People fought amongst themselves, monsters fought against people, and an aether imbued Revenants attacked anything that even dared approach. This place was a lawless zone through and through. The FSA and Aythryn City Council didn’t care what happened inside as long as they got their fifty-Rayn entrance fee.

Getting what I needed, though? Easy. There were all kinds of abandoned vehicles all over the place. I avoided the streets and moved for a parking garage tucked away in a corner. The first floors were already looted, but that was to be expected.

I skipped up to the top couple floors, finding a trove of abandoned cars and trucks. There were even a few bikes scattered around. I eyed everything, checking the place for monsters or people luring. It was clear. The most recent track was over a week old. There were plants around, but they were mostly normal under Aetherial Perception.

Interestingly, the entire AEZ was charged with the Aether. The veil here was particularly thin, just like at the few shrines I’d been to in my time. Would it have any lasting effects on the place outside of increasing Remnant and Revenant spawn rates? Oh, and the plant growth. I had a feeling that was more thanks to the World Tree than anything else though.

I pulled out my Transporter and tossed it into the air. With a simple command, the drone hovered and started charging up the portal projector. Ten minutes. Hmm… was there any way to speed that up?

I had those claws from that Aether bird back in New Tress City still, as well as all sorts of paraphernalia from Corvin. Maybe I could rig something up to make the projector quicker? Theoretically, it wasn’t impossible… I’d have to think about this a bit more-

Insight hit me. Something vibrated through the Aether. I ducked low behind a vehicle, shadows obscuring my for. What-

“Caw!” A bird’s cry came from just in front of me. A crow sprite flickered into existence. Not just any sprite either, but-

“Corvid?” I immediately dropped my stealth Perks and stepped out, greeting the bird with a smile. “Corvid! It’s been so long!”

The bird flapped over to me, settling onto my shoulder. He was much, much bigger than he used to be. Not a little bird anymore… did he get a promotion? He was Crow’s only Greater Crow Sprite now, right?

”Caw~” The bird rubbed up against my cheek. “Caw- caw caw!”

”It’s good to see you too. Are you alright now?” I stuck out my arm. The bird slid down it, perching there. I checked him over. All of his injuries were all healed up. He looked back to normal, thankfully.

“Caw!” The bird preened, picking at his feathers with his beak. His eyes flicked to the Transporter before settling back onto me. “Caw?”

“Oh! My transporter! So much has happened since you’ve been gone- where do I even begin?” I smiled at the bird, rubbing at his feathered head.

Corvid kept me company during the wait for the portal to open up. I talked about anything and everything, moving between vehicles to take parts. I took a little of everything. No telling if I’d need something in the future, so I snagged all kinds of stuff and tossed them into a pile in my bunker. The Transporter really was convenient.

”Caw?” Corvid called from behind me, flapping to the ground. His body expanded, growing to nearly double the size until he stood at waist height for me. He really wasn’t a little bird anymore.

With the help of Corvid, I got all the parts through the Aether, as well as a few of the bikes. They were easy enough to kick into neutral and get through my portal. I tried to do the same for a few of the cars, but… well, they were quite a bit larger and bulkier. I gave up after getting the fanciest car in the place through the portal. I’d run out of space at this rate.

“Thanks for the help.” I lifted a fist to the large bird.

“Caw!” He bumped it with his wing. Then, as if hearing someone call his name, he tilted his head back. He froze for a moment before calling out to me. “Caw- caw~…”

”Chek…” I waved my hand and collected the Transporter, shutting off the portal. “I’ll see you later?”

”Caw!” Corvin cheerfully called out to me, raising his beak. Then, just as quickly as he arrived, he flew back into the Aether.

I watched him go for a moment before collecting everything and heading back down to street level. I dodged around a group of wild hounds ravenously tearing into what looked like a rodent of unusual size. No flyers nearby, unfortunately… it was fine, I had other ways of getting what I needed to get my hover bike up and running.

The path back to the gate was mostly uneventful. I left the AEZ and took my new parts to get back to work on the hover bike. I doubt I’d finish before Saint was ready, but I had hope that I could get at least the basic frame done. I was really looking forward to flying through the sky.