"Why do you ask?"
"Because I rember seeing sothing similar."
David, sensing Osian's questioning montum, said in a calm tone.
"Whoa. Calm down. I don't know what you're misunderstanding, but I'm not who you think I am."
"How do you know that?"
"When you've been in this business long enough, you start to notice things that stretch even when you don't want to. You, I assu, have been involved in a fight with soone who deals with automatons similar to the ones I deal with?"
Osian nodded slowly.
"I see. It's understandable that you would think I use sothing similar, and that I'm related to them."
"You aren’t?"
"Unless you're very mistaken, the automaton I'm dealing with and yours are probably made by the sa company."
"Sa company?"
"There are two main companies that make automatons. Antique Tech, one of Tirna's larger companies and the other is Battle Trench."
"Given the na, I'm guessing it's the latter that you're using."
"That's right. Antique Tech builds automatons to provide labor for everyday needs, and Battle Trench builds automatons for combat."
With that, David jerked his thumb at the automatons lined up on either side of him.
"These two are Ronald and Reginald. They're Grade 2 automatons from the Battle Trench Company, and they're pretty expensive."
"I see."
"Naturally, Battle Trench makes a lot of big, strong guys like these, and I'm guessing that the guy who fought you was also made by Battle Trench. They're made by the sa company, so they're probably similar in size."
"So, do your automatons have exploding arms or sothing?"
David's expression hardened slightly as Osian asked, rembering what he'd seen that day.
"An exploding arm?"
"It was cut off, and then sohow it exploded, scattering shrapnel."
"......I think I have a hunch about that. Anything with that kind of capability is Class 1. No, more like a special class that leaves no evidence."
"Is it common for people to use sothing like that?"
"Not that common but not completely absent, though."
As he said that, David pulled his pocket watch out of his breast pocket and checked the ti.
"Well, well. We're running late. Ti to get moving. More on that later."
Osian agreed with David, since he had co for a request, for now.
At least it was confird that David was not connected to the n he knew.
"Now, then, I think everyone who was supposed to co is here, and we can get on with the business at hand."
David asked after the initial commotion had subsided, and everyone rose to their feet and grabbed their weapons.
Gunslinger Kid's elimination was a surprise, but in a way, it was a good thing, because now everyone would get what they deserved.
If anything, he was the problem.
Most of them glanced over and squinted at Osian.
He'd toyed with Kid with invisibly quick stabs.
Besides, from what David had said, he was obviously quite capable.
‘I haven't heard his na before, so is he a rookie?’
‘He's a rookie, and he's that good. The world is so unfair.’
Kid's share of the money coming in was too good to be true.
A man of Osian's caliber could easily take out a gang with a knife, and that would an less money going to them.
Leaving the factory, the group of rcenaries and fixers set their sights on the power plant in the distance.
There was no set plan.
There was no way that a group of faces that had seen each other for the first ti in a long ti would be able to work together.
Besides, if they did, they'd have to decide how they'd split the profits and who would take the risky front line.
They'd end up fighting amongst themselves before they even started.
What they need is soone with a strong voice.
"Well, I'm not going to tell you to follow my orders now. We don't know what's going to happen in the field anyway."
David's direction was for everyone to act individually, but to provide support in tis of crisis.
The group nodded, agreeing that it made the most sense.
After all, they're a ragtag gang.
Although they are united and have a large number, they are not few either and they're better at fighting than the gangs.
So of them can single-handedly wipe out a small gang, so if a fight breaks out, the gang won't last long.
"I'll assu you've agreed and move on."
I was planning to finish the job quickly and collect my reward.
In a narrow alleyway, a hidden gang that had been preparing in advance began firing pistols.
-Tat-tat-tat!
"Hostiles up ahead!"
"Take cover!"
It was a surprise attack, but no one in the room panicked, and they moved in unison.
The burly rcenary at the head of the line pulled out the shield on his back and held it up in front of him.
The plates spread out to either side of him, providing excellent cover.
It was a portable cover for gunfights.
‘Oh. They have one of those.’
Osian watched the scene from a distance.
The rcenaries ducked behind cover and calmly fired back.
The gangsters, ard at best with cheap pistols and sniper rifles, were no match for the fully ard rcenaries.
As a few of the gangsters fell to the ground in a spray of blood, the rest turned and fled.
"No big deal."
"Isn't it too easy?"
The rcenaries chuckled to each other, retrieved the cover they had set up, and started moving again.
The fight in the other alley was similar.
"Ronald. Reginald."
David ordered, and the two Automatons strode to stand in front of him.
The gang mbers fired at the automatons, but the bullets bounced off their hard skin and ricocheted helplessly.
"Shoot him."
-Tut-tut-tut-tut!
The two Automatons under David's command raised their Tommy guns with both hands and fired at the gang.
Bullet-immune and fearless, the automatons were to the gang the Grim Reaper from Hell.
Mutant Jonathan Lunsell would not stand still.
"Khaab!"
He roared, and his flesh-colored skin turned to a ghastly black.
Now covered in steel, Jonathan launched himself at the gangsters, charging at them.
The gangsters were surprised and opened fire, but Jonathan didn't flinch.
He lunged and slamd his shoulder into a gang mber, who bounced away.
"You son of a bitch!"
One of the taller gang mbers pulled a knife from his waistband and stabbed Jonathan in the side.
The dagger broke without making a single gash in Jonathan's skin.
"Uh, huh?"
The gangsters looked at the broken dagger and then fell to the ground from Jonathan's fist.
Jonathan charged like a raging bull, smashing through cover and throwing gang mbers to the ground.
Osian watched the scene from a distance, arms crossed.
'This is why it's so hard for to get involved.’
For the most part, the fight consisted of exchanging bullets from cover.
Jonathan was the only one to get in close, but only because he didn't mind taking a bullet.
The rcenaries behind him were also firing indiscriminately, not caring if he got shot.
In fact, Jonathan was hit in the back of the head by a bullet, but it didn't seem to hurt him.
‘If you want to get in on the action, I can't stop you.’
It was then.
"Look out!"
Soone shouted, and a second-story window in the alleyway rattled open, revealing the gangster's upper bodies.
An ambush.
The gangsters pointed their shotguns at the rcenaries passing beneath them.
"Dig in, assholes!"
With a murderous shout, the gangster pulled the trigger.
Imdiately, a white flash of light sliced through the upper half of the gangster, along with the gun.
The gun snapped in half, and the gangster dropped to the ground in a spray of blood.
The near-death rcenaries' gazes turned to the source of the flash.
"Nothing much."
There, Osian could be seen with a sword sheathed in his waistband.
With a single stroke, he'd foiled the montary ambush.
‘You can do this with one sword?’
‘How did he cover the distance?’
The rcenaries and fixers around him stared in disbelief.
"Fuck!"
"Everybody run!"
The gangsters decided it was no longer a fight and fled back to the power plant.
The rcenaries didn't bother chasing after them. They were like rats in poison anyway.
“Move.”
The rcenaries signaled to each other and moved in unison.
Soon the narrow streets disappeared, revealing a wide open space.
There was nowhere to take cover and they would be pinned down by bullets, but that didn't matter to those with portable cover.
The rcenaries began to move slowly, pushing through the cover.
The power plant was blocked off at the entrance by a pile of scrap tal that the gang had piled up for a barricade, but to the rcenaries it was nothing.
Contrary to what they thought would be a disruption, the gangsters no longer showed up.
"Looks like no one's here."
"That's what happens with crappy gangs. I'm guessing they realized they had no chance and split up, so it's easier for us."
"Stay focused. Our job isn't done yet."
The rcenary captain said to his team but despite his words, he was actually quite relieved that things were going well.
It had been a long ti since he received a group request, and the people he'd assembled were quite formidable, so he'd expected to take so risks.
Contrary to his worries, it was worth it.
No, it was more than that, it was like taking money for nothing.
The faces of the other fixers and rcenaries lit up.
It was then that Osian lifted his head and looked up into the air.
His expressionless face hardened, if only slightly.
"Hey, man. Why are you suddenly.......?"
David was puzzled by the scene and was about to ask.
Thump───!!!
Sothing landed in the center of the group of 40 people moving at a certain distance.
The ground rumbled with a huge impact and a cloud of dust rose.
"What, what!"
"Is it an attack?!"
They suddenly thought a bomb had fallen, but it wasn't.
The dust settled to reveal a human form and everyone froze, unable to assess the situation.
In the silence that followed, the person at the center of the crater slowly raised his lowered torso.
A gas mask completely obscured his face, a hose leading to the corner of his mouth, tucked into a gap in his brown, ragged poncho.
Leather boots, cotton pants, and bandages on both arms.
It had the look of a rcenary in the midst of a fierce battle, and it had appeared so suddenly.
"Shoot!"
The rcenaries were quick to react.
They realized that this unexpected visitor was definitely not an ally.
The rcenaries near the stranger quickly pointed their guns at him and pulled the trigger.
David, seeing the situation in hindsight, shouted.
"No! Everybody get out of here!"
But his shout was drowned out by loud gunfire.
The bullets were flying, about to hit the man in the gas mask.
The man's left arm moved slightly, and blue electricity flashed around him.
The flying bullets stopped in midair, as if blocked by an invisible wall.
Huh?
The rcenaries who fired the shots were dumbfounded.
"What the hell......."
And that beca their last words.
The man in the gas mask stretched out his left arm, and the bullets that had been stopped returned to the rcenaries.
The rcenaries collapsed in a spray of blood.
In a matter of seconds, ten n had been killed.
The bandage on the raider's left arm ripped open, revealing its contents.
It was a chanical arm, too sophisticated to be made of tal.
Shot in the shoulder, the rcenary captain, who had barely survived, called out in a shaky voice.
"Te, Tesla Arms!"
Imdiately, a bolt of blue lightning erupted from the enemy's left arm, sending sparks flying everywhere.
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