"Don't ever test like that again..."
Chen Ke grasped Pihom's hand, and the atmosphere imdiately relaxed. The three other guys nearby also slung their long guns over their shoulders, leaving a deep impression on Chen Ke.
The first one he noticed was the white man holding a scanner, a sturdy figure dressed in a gray suit, with a buzz cut, and a full beard that ford a goatee. He stood a head taller than Chen Ke. Over his shoulder hung an AK74 outfitted with an underslung grenade launcher.
The laser that had scanned him must have co from the device in that guy's hand.
Standing next to the white man was a man with nearly half his face covered in red scars, which was sowhat nauseating to look at. He was about the sa height as Chen Ke, dressed in a brown suit, with a gray Saiga-12 shotgun resting on his shoulder, his eyes sharp like an eagle's.
"Gentlen, let's get cozy and familiar with each other," Pihom said with a smile, one hand on Chen Ke's shoulder, the other gesturing for his two companions to co over.
"Not bad, not bad, this young man's got guts, I like that," said the man with the scarred face with a nod.
"This here is Hall," Pihom introduced.
"If Pihom trusts you, then I can trust you, little brother," the white man with the scanner agreed, his accent intriguing, his speech peppered with three rolled Rs.
"This is Priskin, as you can probably tell from his accent. He's from the forr Suluo, our team's engineer," Pihom said with a smile.
An engineer for a robbery? Chen Ke was a bit puzzled, but considering the organization wasn't stealing ordinary items, perhaps it was normal for their thods to be a bit different?
"So, how should we address you?" asked Priskin.
"You can call Chen Ke."
"Good, I'll rember that na. Pihom says you're good at dealing with monsters, though none of us have seen it..." Hall circled around the table, his opinion of Chen Ke reserved.
"Can I ask a question first?" Chen Ke crossed his arms, scrutinizing the three n before him.
From the mont he entered, he hadn't felt the presence of anyone else, and including himself, there were only four people in this underground safehouse. This couldn't help but pique his curiosity.
"New guys always have a lot of questions, go ahead," Pihom said, grinning.
"Is this room all there is to the Postman Organization?" Chen Ke asked with a raised eyebrow, puzzled.
As if they had already seen through Chen Ke's doubts, Priskin and Hall wore smirks of mockery, and Pihom, with a smirk, pulled out his wallet and handed two five-dollar bills to them—apparently, they had made so sort of bet earlier.
"It's normal for you to wonder. Perhaps there aren't many people in this little safehouse, but that doesn't an we're weak or alone. Gathering everyone together just isn't our style," Pihom explained.
Priskin and Hall went off to take care of other things, and Pihom gave Chen Ke a brief tour of the safehouse.
The room had five rooms and a hall, two of which were hung with violent, modified weapons that couldn't be seen in any gun shop.
A stockless rifle caught his eye—outfitted not only with a grenade launcher but also cramd with laser sights and flashlights on the Picatinny rails, with an ACOG 4x scope attached above.
And yet, even with all the modifications, Chen Ke could tell from the gun's unique wooden fore-end and steel-gray reinforced body that it was actually an AK47...
"This is Babayaga, Priskin's beloved personal modification. He's our most outstanding engineering expert and gunsmith, with unique insights into modding guns. He's been studying how to modify a shotgun to fire deer bullets..." Pihom spread his hands.
Chen Ke couldn't help but be amazed. In any world, Russians were a peculiar breed, and only one who had drunk shampoo would study how to convert a shotgun to a machine gun...
The room also contained other heavily modified weapons, each not just altered in various ways but also having flashy paint jobs. For anyone who loved guns, this place was heaven.
Underneath each gun was a little note with the owner's na on it. Chen Ke glanced at them—Jimmy, Chains, Sydney... it seed the Postman Organization had quite a few mbers, but none were in the safehouse at the mont.
"... This room contains our most important things, the drilling machines," Pihom's voice ca from next door and Chen Ke hurried to follow.
In this room, he saw all kinds of drilling machines, big and small, each fitted with a square, black iron fra that seed capable of being mounted on various vertical surfaces as needed. The larger drill was about the size of a diesel generator, with a pile of smaller ones each about half the size of a computer case.
"What are these for?" Chen Ke asked, pointing to the smaller drills.
"They're used to open locks that can't be picked or pried," Pihom replied.
"Why not just use C4 or a shotgun? Why go through all the trouble?" Chen Ke asked, puzzled. Ordinary locks could be destroyed with a handgun, and larger locks could be dealt with using a shotgun firing buckshot, so why bother with drills?
"Locks aren't always on doors, and sotis we don't want the person who locked it to know soone is trying to unlock it. Soon you'll see how we use them," Pihom chuckled.
The two continued forward to the next room, where they saw dozens of hockey masks hanging on three of the walls, each with a different style. These masks were not only painted fancifully, so were outright works of art. Chen Ke stared at a chicken-head-shaped mask for a long ti.
"Every postman has their own mask. When our designer gets back, she will help you design a unique one," Pihom said.
"It's definitely better than wearing a black hood." Chen Ke comnted. He hadn't expected that the postn even managed their heists with such artistic flair.
Moving on, they ca to the lounge and the planning room where Hall and Priskin were discussing sothing in front of a white tactical board that had a blue architectural blueprint tacked onto it, with various marks and arrows drawn alongside it.
Pihom and Chen Ke stopped at the door, not entering to disturb them. Chen Ke rembered the scanner Priskin had used on him earlier and ntioned it to Pihom.
"That device is roughly similar to a handheld X-ray, but it isn't for scanning your body; instead, it checks if there is Spiritual Energy inside you," Pihom explained.
Spiritual Energy is colorless and odorless in the air, but it does have mass and is a detectable gas. In ancient tis, this substance was referred to as "Ether."
After undergoing a process of extraction and liquefaction by the Administration Bureau, this colorless and odorless gas turns into a luminescent blue liquid.
No elent on the known periodic table can synthesize Spiritual Energy. It is the 64th elent discovered by humanity and cannot undergo a chemical reaction with any other elent.
Before being liquefied and injected into the spinal canal inside the human spine to rge with the spinal cord, Spiritual Energy cannot have any positive effects on humans. Note that I said positive effects.
Only by rging the liquefied Spiritual Energy with the human spinal cord can humans gain the ability to control the Holy Relics. When a Spiritual Ability User dies, this liquefied Spiritual Energy seemingly evaporates into thin air. There is currently no definitive explanation for this phenonon.
The principle of the handheld scanner that Priskin had lies in scanning the human spine area to determine if there is any luminescent blue substance, thus assessing if the individual has Spiritual Energy.
Of course, the Administration Bureau surely has more advanced and straightforward thods.
"So, you're saying that all the people in the Postman Organization are normal, with none possessing Spiritual Power? Since we're going to rob the Holy Relics, why don't we try to make ourselves stronger?" Chen Ke asked.
"The reason is simple. If we are all normal people, then only the cops will co after us. But if we are illegal Spiritual Ability Users, then the Administration Bureau will be our enemy. You might think that investigators aren't so tough after you kill one. But I assure you, if you've ever seen a Spiritual Ability User fight, even just once, you wouldn't want to ss with them. Don't lay hands on cops, civilians, or anyone from the Administration Bureau; that's the bottom line. Avoid engaging investigators from Spiritual Ability Enterprises unless absolutely necessary," Pihom replied with a serious expression.
Not going after cops or civilians ant that the Postman Organization still had lines it wouldn't cross, although the main reason for this was because dealing with these two groups afterward was tricky.
The wariness towards Spiritual Ability Users and investigators, apart from the pressure from the Administration Bureau, was likely more due to the fear of the powers of Spiritual Ability Users.
Thinking about what could make the leader of an organization that specialized in robbing Spiritual Ability Enterprises so wary, and combining it with the deeds of "Transcendents" who ended World War II, made Chen Ke increasingly curious about the capacity of Spiritual Ability Users.
Did he count as a Spiritual Ability User now? The ability from the Holy Relics ca from his lifespan, not Spiritual Energy; what on earth did that an?
Chen Ke once more pondered wildly. Perhaps a complete set of Holy Relics that can enhance each other's effects in combination with Transcendent Skills represents the full display of a Spiritual Ability User's power?
If that was the case, he must figure out a way to acquire Transcendent Skills quickly! That was the only way to match the Transcendent Assassins from Si's consortium.
And right now, with no clue about how to obtain Transcendent Skills, arming himself with a bunch of useful Holy Relics was a must. And what better way to achieve that goal quickly than by stealing from others?
"So, Pihom, let's talk business... When's the next job?" Chen Ke said with a smile.
"Soon, very soon... I have a big deal on my hands right now, and the target is Si's consortium," Pihom said while lighting a cigarette.
Chen Ke bowed his head, pretending to wipe his nose, to hide his wicked and excited smile.
He had been wondering how to find out more about Si's consortium, and the Postman Organization had delivered a golden opportunity right to him, which would also allow for collecting Holy Relics—an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.
Just then, Hall suddenly ran out of the room, holding a device that resembled a handheld radio with a screen; he looked serious, seemingly bearing bad news.
"What's wrong, Hall? This doesn't seem like you," Pihom asked in surprise.
"Pi, it's an ergency signal. Hainerd's team seems to have run into trouble," Hall said gravely.
Pihom's brows furrowed as he rushed forward to take the handheld radio, checking it attentively.
"Hainerd and I both know that the heist last night was supposed to be as easy as going out for a al for his people..." Pihom muttered as he examined the device.
"The signal is moving, they're in a car, passing through the Lower District and heading towards the Upper City," Priskin said as he ca out of the room.
"First, let's get our people back, then we can figure out what exactly happened," Pihom said.
The three of them then turned to look at Chen Ke.
"Rookie, get ready for your first heist!"
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