[ D day - 3 ] [ 50 H :21 M :35 S ] [ home town ]
Vikram paused before he went out.
He walked all over the portal to confirm he has left nothing behind, and also to give himself time to recover. He changed into new clothes.
His old ones, including the leather armor, are already in tatters, so all of them would be trashed. He needs to order new chain mail, and new leather armor.
Though few men and cameras were set up near the portal, it is nowhere near what the press is around the capital.
He could dash away from the disappearing portal before any of them could react.
Thus, Vikram geared up all over, with running sneakers, black windbreaker and black shirt, black sports pants.
The moment he stepped out of the portal, he ran away into the side alley.
The Disappearance of the portal took at least half a minute, so, all the cameras were focused on the portal, and he vanished from the location in no time.
In the national news, once more, a live banner is played, and in no time, almost all the squatting men in front of the portal uploaded YouTube channels with their own footage.
In a moment, they have become stars.
While the news companies are slow to arrive, youtubers and live broadcast makers were not so slow.
Thus, the next day, what little hotels their town had were full, and some of the men and women were running a side business of renting out rooms for a day.
However, Vikram's schedule did not change much. As soon as he exited the portal, he went to get new armor.
He went to the bicycle repair shop in the night, and offered double the price to make him an iron mail shirt, and leather armor.
The owner disagreed.
However Vikram did not give up.
One of the workers looked very oppressed yesterday.
So, Vikram waited for him in the alley beside the shop.
He grabbed the man the moment the owner skittered away.
" Little brother ! you seem to have the best hands in the shop. He doesn't pay you much, your owner does he ? " Vikram asked him.
The guy looked peeved, and a little frightened.
Seems the owner has something on him.
Probably a poacher, this one.
Given their town is right beside nationally protected jungle, the rare species of plants and animals are both available.
The forest still has tigers, and a fair few, compared to any other poached areas.
" I promise I will keep it a secret, and I will also pay for the materials. Find me a location other than your shop, will you ? " Vikram asked.
The man looked hesitant.
"How about this ? If you have any special things, I would also take them off your hands." Vikram offered.
"Brother, you are good. I have some real special goods to offer to ya. We got real deer skin and crocodile skins. Want to see ? " The man asked.
'As expected', Vikram thought.
Had it been before, he would have reported the poachers right away.
But now, he had a better idea.
"Brother ! The skins are good, but what I really want are weapons. I can buy them all as long as you have them." Vikram assured the man.
Given how finicky the man was behaving, police must be on to them.
Compared to when he was young, poaching is taken a lot more seriously now, and police liked cracking down on these kinds of background-less criminals the most.
Moreover, the skins do not cost much nowadays compared to the wood. As the forest where most rosewood grew, the entire black mountain range is full of valuable timber all over.
So, these guys are getting ready to run, and dumping all the contraband in their hands as fast as possible.
As they started walking, Vikram began making small talk.
" Little brother! Are you seeing the news tonight ? It seems panic buying has become the norm all over the country. I tell you, soon, all the daily items would increase in price." Vikram waxed lyrical about how much profit one could make, if only someone had the foresight to buy in towns and sell in cities.
When he went in, he was shown four deer hides, and two each of pangolin and crocodile skins. The leathers are good quality.
However, it's not leathers Vikram was interested in.
It is their weaponry.
" Little brother! I am sure these are good quality. But it is like this. I want to hunt on my own, with my own team. I see that you are done with what you are doing. How about you sell your gear to me? " he asked the man.
"Brother! A farmer can't sell his plough, and a hunter can't sell his bow. If they do so, they would have no choice but to beg on the streets. Won't they ? " The man who seemed to be the real boss refuted.
However, he was not the real boss.
It is neither the guy who worked in the bicycle shop, nor the guy who's negotiating the price, but the very nondescript looking man sitting to the side who seemed to be their boss.
You only need to watch their body language for half a minute to understand that fact.
Soon, Vikram realized these guys are more organized than he expected.
First, the items offered to him are well taken care of, but were too rusty.
Then, from the little reminder he had read, they are all small game hunting equipment, which only accompanied a bigger item, like … elephant gun.
In other words, the shotgun and the musket.
This is more than petty criminals, this is a felon right here. These guys ought to die as soon as possible, for left alone, these men would only kill more people in the times to come.
All the same he persisted.
"Little brother ?! Are you kidding me ? Who doesn't know this is stuff for the kids ? I am asking about guns. You have some, don't you ? " Vikram prodded them.
He knew the moment they were going to act.
Despite the darkness of the night, Vikram could see like it's the day when these guys moved.
Not just these, there's another guy standing out there in the corner, taking a video of the entire process.
Good thing these are not good men.
"Ah! Big brother's eyes are good. We have more, but they will cost you." The man said.
Vikram agreed.
Soon, he was shown into a room, with Damascus steel weapons.
"Big brother, they came from kings of the mountains. It is said they were able to hunt elephants with this kind of sword." The man bluffed.
The weapon is indeed that good of a quality.
On top of it, they did have the shotgun, and twenty shots for it.
" This one? Our little brother modified it. " The man explained how the new shotgun is used.
Vikram bought them all, then commissioned all the leather to be turned into leather armor over steel mail.
Literally an armor.
He could not kill men directly, but in three days, all the portals would overflow.
Not having any weapons, these men would be in a bind.
However, there is one more way he could ensure their death.
The next morning it dawned bright.
Vikram had just four hours of sleep, but he was brimming with energy. The first thing he made is the beast attraction lotion, a moisturizer with hidden ingredients that Talin explained in great detail, as he used Vikram as bait for attracting beasts of various kinds, especially insects.
As long as one is in India, one could always attract creepy crawlies to their enemies, so they would die without even knowing how or why. poison is almost always available in abundance in many forms.
It is especially so in rural areas with plenty of snakes and insects around.
Plain Vaseline lotion, camphor, and aloe juice, whipped together to create an almost odorless lotion.
Almost all the animals are attracted to this lotion, Talin swore.
So, Vikram prepared it with great diligence, and filled it in a few ready made bottles.
After receiving his armor and paying up, he presented the man with the special bug repellant he made, and told them to ask him for more if they need it.
" I will give a discount especially for you." Vikram told the man.
The men happily received the ointment.
No matter how where they go, bug repellants are never thrown away, especially in this season. At least one of them would keep it, and mosquitoes' current situation is wildly different from mosquitoes that get released in two more days.
He received his armor at five in the morning, and the moment he did, he went straight in to portal, wearing a baseball cap and windbreaker.
This time, his dreaded prediction has come true.
The moment he saw the rocky terrain, he knew.
It's the monitor lizards this time around.
Vikram changed his clothes, gearing himself up all over the place, dividing his weapons into three groups, and hiding them at three different locations around the portal.
Then, he started reaping lives of the slipperiest animals he has ever seen.
The first died, the second lizard's tail bashed the rock to smithereens, while the lizard jumped three feet with the rebound. Vikram's sword sliced straight through its neck.
[ Explosive muscles gene fragment 0.1 ]
[ Thick skin gene fragment 0.1 ]
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