Chapter 1 A Second-Order Profession

After stripping a second-order profession, Suren felt his combat skills had improved significantly.

Looking back, he also discovered a "Moonlight Inn" keyword in Aberke's memories.

"That guy hid something in that inn?"

Suren's curiosity was piqued.

"Shadow Scorpion" Aberke was originally an assassin-type professional. As a notorious A-level wanted criminal, this guy's favorite things to do were stealing treasures and killing people.

Over the years, he had committed many major crimes, stealing a lot of treasures and money.

From the limited memory fragments, Suren also learned that this guy had been caught by the "Umbrella Organization" before, and then confessed several of his treasure hiding places, but it seemed that a very important [Sealed Object] had been hidden by him.

"'Sealed Object,' what is that?"

Suren felt that anything that could make this second-order professional think it could save his life must be extraordinary.

However, he didn't dwell on it too much.

Aberke had only been captured recently, and perhaps this guy's whereabouts, which he thought hadn't been exposed, were being closely watched by some people. For example, the "Umbrella Organization" in the inner city, a special law enforcement department composed of professionals.

It was like in his previous life, the police would trace the historical movements of criminals to find clues.

If he went to find the "stolen goods" now, it was very likely that he would be targeted by people following the trail.

The more valuable the item, the greater the chance of being targeted.

Suren thought that he would wait until the heat of the matter had cooled down before finding an opportunity to inquire about where that "Moonlight Inn" was.

.......

Tonight's arena matches had all ended. After the noise subsided, the gamblers also dispersed.

Ordinary gamblers didn't know that many important figures had come to the "Crimson Bunker" gambling house for this final headlining match tonight.

In a private room on the second floor, smoke swirled, and the air had a rich, sweet tobacco smell.

This was a top-quality cigar produced by the "Bargum Tobacco Company."

There were several men and women with modified mechanical prosthetics in the private room. Although they were wearing very gentlemanly black suits, they couldn't hide the strong ferocious aura on their bodies.

These were gangsters.

If anyone else were here, they would definitely recognize the big-bearded, gloomy man smoking a cigar as "Butcher" Banner, the famous president of the "Steam Brotherhood" in the outer city!

One of the most powerful figures in the outer city.

Banner watched the entire battle. Although he lost a little money, he seemed to be in a good mood. "Tsk tsk, this ability is a bit interesting... Send someone to contact this 'Red Devil' Goron. If he is willing to join our gang, give him a position as a cadre."

A second-order professional who had been expelled from the Batalov family would no longer be hired by other families in the inner city.

This guy could only stay in the outer city to make a living.

For them, the gangsters, this kind of person was the best "newcomer."

Hearing this, the man standing by the door in the private room responded, "Yes, Boss."

At this time, the enchanting woman snuggling in Banner's arms also spoke, saying charmingly, "Old man, what should we do about Green Street? These gambling houses and nightclubs are a lucrative business... The 'Cross Society' sent a greenhorn to cover the area, making it difficult for us to intervene."

Banner unceremoniously ran his large hand, which had not yet been modified into a mechanical prosthetic, over the woman's chest, and said, "Hehe, just a rookie who has just been promoted to a professional. Since they don't let the cadres intervene, let's not lose our status ourselves. In a couple of days, send a few people to take care of this group, and also test the attitude of the 'Cross Society' executives..."

The enchanting woman seemed to know some inside information. Hearing this, she guessed something and asked curiously, "Old man, could it be that something really happened to the boss of the 'Cross Society'?"

"This..."

Banner was noncommittal, thought for a while, and then said, "That guy Chuck hasn't shown up in the Cross Society for two or three months. There are rumors that he went outside the city last time to deal with a 'cursed space' and something seemed to have happened."

After a pause, a hint of suspicion appeared in his eyes, and he changed his words, "However, based on my understanding of that old schemer, even if something really happened, he would arrange some backup plans. Right now, that guy might be planning something big, preparing to scheme against people. That's why we need to test him... Otherwise, with just these few streets, my 'Steam Society' would have swallowed them long ago."

As Banner spoke, his large hand became more and more impolite.

The enchanting woman was originally wearing a long dress, and this lift revealed a large expanse of spring.

But the others in the room seemed to turn a blind eye to this erotic scene, and no one dared to look directly at it.

The enchanting woman was panting slightly and said coquettishly, "Old man, are you going to my place tonight?"

Unexpectedly, Banner shook his head. "Not tonight."

Hearing this, the woman pouted her lips, "Hmm?"

It was just this seemingly inadvertent pout that gave people a charming and coquettish look like a little girl, as if it had a kind of inexplicable magic that made people love her.

Banner looked at the woman's jealous gaze, smiled, and unconsciously explained, "I got news that there's a show to watch tonight, so I have to go out."

"A show?"

Hearing this, curiosity also appeared in the woman's crystal eyes.

Banner thought about it and didn't hide it much, saying, "It is said that the 'Cross Society' brought back a mysterious antique from the ancient ruins discovered last time. And coincidentally, many important figures in the inner city are interested in that thing. So, a group of people will probably take action tonight to attack the Cross Society's treasury."

These words were very vague, hiding a lot of key information, but the woman also heard that the matter was explosive.

She looked slightly excited and said, "Are we going to start a war with the 'Cross Society'?"

Banner shook his head and corrected, "Not us. It's probably the 'Raven Gang' and the important figures in the inner city behind it who want to take action. It doesn't count as a war, just a surprise attack. We're just going to watch the show. Of course, if there's an opportunity, we might as well pick up some scraps."

......

Today, there were no more corpses in the arena that could have their souls stripped, so Suren didn't continue to stay there.

As for the other gambling games upstairs, he wasn't interested in participating.

On his first day in the city, Suren planned to familiarize himself with the environment, at least to get a clear understanding of the three blocks of Green Street. After all, the "Cross Society" was the local tyrant, and it wouldn't make sense for gang members to be unfamiliar with their own territory.

The more chaotic the order, the more developed the entertainment industry. Leaving the gambling house, Green Street was a scene of bustling nightlife.

The streets were crowded with people.

It was also common to see people carrying weapons on the streets, firearms, swords, steam mechanical arms, leather armor, cowboy hats, and combat boots, which were standard equipment for wasteland hunters.

The average salary for ordinary people in the outer city was only two or three thousand Solas a month, while sitting in a tavern on Green Street for a while would cost several hundred. Therefore, most of those who could spend money here were wasteland hunters. They would risk their lives to hunt in the wilderness outside the city, and then, after getting rich, they would enjoy a life of luxury and decadence in the city.

Suren walked onto the street, moving through the crowd.

The walls of the streets were covered with colorful graffiti, and the patterns also had a strong dark style, abstract, satirical, advertising, and erotic...

In the dark alleys, one could always hear the continuous "hissing" sound, which was the sound of steam pipes on the walls rupturing and leaking steam.

Everywhere in the city, one could see towering chimneys spewing white smoke, which were the smoke stacks for the underground steam boilers. These large steam engines also provided energy and hot water for the city's factories.

In the damp alleys near the taverns, one could always see one or two drunkards lying next to trash cans, vomiting and sleeping. The scavenging rats seemed to be used to it, and occasionally sniffed the drunks, probably to see if they could be used as food.

Suren thought of the half corpse in the back alley of the "Elephant Tavern" before, and his eyes fell on the dark depths of the black sewers with gurgling water. In that dark cave, there seemed to be pairs of crimson eyes hidden...

After walking for a while, his stomach felt empty, so Suren found a restaurant that looked relatively clean.

The staple food was mushroom soup with black bread, a specialty of the underground city. Meat was an expensive luxury item, and you didn't even know what animal's meat you were eating.

Suren didn't care, as long as it wasn't poisonous, it was all high-quality protein in his eyes.

Although the taste was a bit strange, it was much better than always gnawing on dry black bread rations.

......

The gang's working hours were only half an hour each day.

Suren thought that this leisure would last at least for a while.

Unexpectedly, on this first day, he encountered a sudden incident.

Just as he was eating in the restaurant, the communicator hanging on his waist suddenly rang with an urgent call: "Everyone, gather at the back alley of the 'Emperor Bathhouse' at once!"

Kai didn't explain anything in the communicator, but listening to that tone, it should be very urgent.

The gathering point wasn't far away, so Suren didn't delay and walked quickly over there.

When he arrived, dozens of "Cross Society" gang members had already gathered in that dark back alley. Steam motorcycles roared, and motorcycles and armored personnel carriers were also in place...

The gang's mobilization efficiency has always been very high. An emergency gathering also meant there was going to be a gang fight.

Most of the gang members didn't know what had happened, and their faces were full of playful smiles.

Suren looked at the pile of weapons and ammunition being distributed, frowned slightly, and realized that the matter seemed to be no small thing.

Kai was concise and serious, "The gang headquarters warehouse has been attacked, we need to go over immediately! Although we don't know who the enemy is yet, everyone... prepare for war!"