151: Chapter 151: Mask (Please Subscribe, Add to Favorites, Request Monthly Tickets) 151: Chapter 151: Mask (Please Subscribe, Add to Favorites, Request Monthly Tickets) Generally, more advanced combat suits are paired with a cape.
The primary purpose of equipping a combat suit with a cape is,
to look cool.
Yeah, that’s important.
Given the current level of the Federation’s civilization developnt, the thermal and rain protection offered by capes has beco virtually negligible since the combat suit itself is equipped with modules that allow wearers to operate in harsh environnts.
Now the function of a cape is more as a decorative item that enhances aesthetic appeal and signifies status.
For example, in the Federation military, only officers’ combat suits are allowed to be paired with capes to denote their status and facilitate managent.
Similarly, in advertisents for recruitnt by the Federation or Dawn City, soldiers are typically depicted with uniformly cool capes or stunning combat armor, which can significantly attract the youth of the Federation to join the army and improve the recruitnt efficacy of the Federation.
Although, once these recruits enlist, they will soon understand what the ad’s disclair “Advertising effects are for reference only, please refer to actual experience” ans.
Ten minutes later, He Ao erged from the secret chamber, wearing his combat suit and draped in a wide cape.
On the combat suit, he hung five empty Mithril Test Tubes, a light submachine gun with several magazines full of bullets, and a few grenades.
As he closed the secret chamber door, he slid the Butcher Pistol from the wooden box into the gun holster of his combat suit.
Yep, now he could use this gun again.
He then picked up the shortsword wrapped in a chanical scabbard and hung it on the buckle of his cape.
Although the cape was purely decorative, it still had so hidden snaps and small pouches attached for hanging so large items.
After he had gathered everything, He Ao glanced at the room and slowly closed the door behind him.
Beep—
With a soft click from the smart lock, the sturdy security door was locked,
and He Ao descended the stairs slowly.
—
The huge neon sign above Eno’s restaurant flickered once and then gradually went off.
A fine lady, with brownish-red wavy long hair and a full figure, stepped out of a side door of the restaurant, locked it, and stretched lazily.
Looking up at the now-darkened neon sign overhead, she suddenly raised her hand, forming a small gap between her index finger and thumb, and said with a smile,
“Roy, you see, my business acun is still just a tiny bit better than yours.”
t with blackened light boxes and the silent night, there was no response.
The faint night breeze stirred up the dust on the ground and fluttered her clothes.
She shook her head, tightened her coat, shifted her gaze away from the dark sign, and chuckled to herself,
“Spending too much ti with that stinky girl Vianne has made start acting weird.”
With her hands behind her back, she walked toward the depths of the street.
“Anyway,” she suddenly stopped while walking, laughed, and looking up at the sky said, “you can rest easy now.”
“Yeah, okay.”
A soft response ca suddenly from beside her.
“What the hell.”
The reply startled her, and she looked towards the source of the voice.
There, not far from her side, stood a figure in a pitch-black cape with their face hidden under a hood, standing in front of a street vendor’s stall, pointing at sothing on the stall and saying, “Uh-huh, that’s the one, yeah, pack it up for .”
“…”
Scared the living daylights out of .
Naomi patted her heaving chest, rubbed her temples, and continued walking towards the deeper end of the street.
She didn’t find it odd seeing soone whose face was hidden under a hood; in Aston District, people wearing clothes in unconventional ways were more plentiful than the stars in the sky.
…
He Ao glanced at Naomi disappearing into the night, then turned his attention back to the street vendor in front of him.
This was a small stand filled with all sorts of miscellaneous toys, and now being close to midnight, vendors coming out at this ti usually hadn’t paid the municipal governnt’s stand fee and didn’t have a legal license.
Of course, the inco from such a stand also went untaxed.
“Kid, five coins.”
The vendor, holding a paper bag containing the toy He Ao had just pointed out, handed it to He Ao.
He Ao glanced at him and turned to walk away.
“Four and a half!”
“Four coins!”
The vendor’s voice followed He Ao from behind.
“Three and a half!
Can’t go any lower.”
“Three coins, ah, I’m practically selling at a loss today.
I got the rchandise for three coins, not making a penny off you, and that’s including labor.”
He Ao slowly walked back, his gaze resting for a mont on the bag the vendor was holding out, then shifted to the other items at the toy stand.
“How much for that one?”
He Ao pointed to a mask at the vendor’s feet.
It was a smiling face mask, half black on one side and half white on the other.
The boundary between black and white was not so clearly defined but seed rather like a blend of sunlight and shadow.
The mouth of the mask ford an almost U-shaped ‘smile’, while the eye parts were two downward-curved crescents; both mouth and eyes were hollowed out to allow for seeing and breathing.
The whole mask looked bizarre and eerie.
As He Ao looked at the mask, it seed to be looking back at him.
“This one is expensive,” the vendor put down the bag, picked up the mask, and tapped it, producing a thud, “Don’t let it fool you into thinking it’s made of plastic, but in fact, this mask is crafted from a special tal; look,”
The vendor handed the mask to He Ao, “Look at this sheen, this texture, so much like plastic yet as light as plastic.”
He Ao took the mask, tapped it lightly, and weighed it in his hand.
Yep, it’s plastic.
“I won’t charge you much,” said the vendor, seeing He Ao seed quite interested in the mask and smiled, “For a pure tal mask with such a nice texture, if you bought it outside, it would be at least twenty-five coins.
I’m honest; I’ll let you have it for ten coins.”
Plastic masks on the market were about one to two coins each; this mask, with its unique design, could at most sell for two coins.
He Ao looked at the vendor, waved the mask he was holding, and then glanced at the toy the vendor had just put into the bag, saying calmly,
“Three coins, for both.”
“Nobody does business like that; I can’t work with those terms.”
The boss quickly shook his head.
“Fine.”
He Ao put down the mask and turned to leave.
“Hey, hey, hey, young man, why don’t you haggle by the rules?” the vendor called out urgently, “Eight coins, you’ve got to let earn a bit, right?”
“Six coins, six coins, I really didn’t make a penny from you.
Let’s consider it as opening day, making a friend.”
“Five and a half, can’t go any lower, really can’t go lower.
Doing business with you, I’m already losing money on my vehicle’s electricity charge.”
“Five coins!!!”
“Okay,”
The youth draped in a cape appeared in front of the vendor, “Wrap it up.”
“You know, young man,” the vendor said, eyeing He Ao’s hood that concealed his face, “I wouldn’t have taken this order otherwise; sigh, let’s call it making a friend.”
He Ao took the bag without a word.
According to Roy’s past experience wandering and dealing with vendors, the vendor should at least make one coin from him,
but that was also the lowest price the vendor could offer since setting up a stall is also about making a living.
These vendors setting up in the dead of night had to dodge both the city managent officials and the gangs; what they earned was just enough to scrape by.
He took out a five federal coin note from his pocket and handed it to the vendor, “Here.”
“Co again next ti.”
The vendor chuckled, accepting the money, and waved goodbye to He Ao.
He Ao, carrying the bag, gradually disappeared into the night.
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