Over the past two or three months, Li Lin occasionally visited The Last Drop, checking in on Powder and discreetly gathering information about the Undercity from Vander.
Even though Vander had no desire to delve into matters beyond the Lanes, he promised to assist Li Lin wholeheartedly, providing manpower and intelligence free of charge.
This included information about Takeda, the Chem-Baron who missed the last meeting.
Takeda, full name Takeda Saito, was a notoriously ruthless Chem-Baron, infamous for the bloody gang conflicts he orchestrated. Hailing from an Ionian samurai family, he was exiled to Zaun due to his father's misdeeds.
Growing up in the lower levels of Zaun's Undercity, Takeda, with his fierce personality and inherited combat skills, gained loyalty through sheer strength. After the "Day of Ashes" that shook the twin cities a few years ago, Takeda seized control of several mines in the sewers, elevating himself to the pinnacle of power among Zaun's Chem-Barons.
However, due to his family's inherent arrogance, Takeda despised other Chem-Barons and constantly plotted to seize their territories. As a result, he was the least favored among the Chem-Barons, lacking any real allies.
After quickly searching his database for information on Takeda, Li Lin couldn't help but smirk.
"Really? Not even allying with other Chem-Barons? What gives you the courage to mess with me? Did Liang Jingru inspire you?"
(TN: Liang Jingru is a Chinese singer. She has a song titled Courage.)
Or perhaps his subordinates acted without his consent, trying to make some extra on the side. Li Lin considered this possibility unlikely.
Muneyama Keita, thinking Li Lin was hesitating in silence, wore a disdainful expression. "Hurry up, you Zhili. My time is money. You owe me 150 Golden Hexes now."
Zhili was a disgusting insect native to Ionia, used as an insult implying foolishness and disgust. Li Lin understood Ionian, knowing the meaning of the term.
"Are you sure... you're asking me for protection money?" Li Lin retorted in Ionian.
"Heh, so you're from Ionia? Should've said so earlier." Muneyama Keita laughed, then his expression turned cold. "In that case, it's 300 Golden Hexe."
"Have you lost your mind?" Li Lin couldn't help but chuckle. "You must have really listened to Liang Jingru."
At this point, Li Lin genuinely wondered if Muneyama Keita had a serious mental issue or if he thought he could take advantage of the crowd.
Is he blind to the powered armor I'm wearing? Even if he's inexperienced, shouldn't he have heard about it by now?
Li Lin couldn't comprehend it.
Muneyama Keita looked bewildered for a moment. "Liang Jingru? Who's that?"
Alright, he really has issues.
Shaking his head, Li Lin didn't intend to waste any more words on this guy. He activated the "Overload Charge" of his Infinite Armor without hesitation.
The energy crystal's power was drained by the armor, and arcs of azure light spread across Li Lin's chest and back like a spider's web.
"Want to fight?!" Muneyama Keita, sensing danger, reacted swiftly, moving his hands to grip the specially modified Chemtech katana against his right cheek, the blade pointing forward in a defensive stance.
"Heh! Heart-Piercing Thrust!"
Immediately, Muneyama Keita laughed loudly and, with a forceful push off his right foot, surged towards Li Lin. Utilizing the momentum of his body's forward motion, he thrust the blade forward.
Enhanced by Chem-tech augmentation, his speed and strength surpassed ordinary individuals.
With a sharp sound cutting through the air, Li Lin calmly raised his right hand, and an uncharged blue-white energy sphere shot out from his palm at incredible speed, heading straight for the charging warrior.
The radiant light of the energy sphere illuminated the dim Undercity. Although Muneyama Keita realized what was happening, his augmented body couldn't match the speed of the energy weapon.
Muneyama Keita's pupils contracted, fear evident in his eyes as the expanding energy sphere grew larger. In the next moment, with a "pfft" sound, the energy sphere pierced through his chest, exploding within him, scattering blood and flesh.
The technologically enhanced sword he held in his hands, loosened by the shockwave of energy, spiraled down and embedded itself into the ground.
The air sank into a prolonged silence. The faces of the fifty-odd thugs brought by Muneyama Keita were covered in shock, their eyes wide open, staring dumbfoundedly at the charred debris and the pool of fresh blood before them.
Where were the people? That massive living being, gone? What in the world had this guy done!? After a while, a thug's shocked voice shattered the silence, "Damn it! He got rid of Muneyama-san!"
Following suit, the crowd became restless:
"What the hell is this monster?"
"We're done for; Takeda-san trusted him the most, and now that he's gone, we're all in trouble..."
"Screw that! If we can deliver this guy to the boss, we can make amends."
"Yeah, yeah! Open fire, everyone focus on him! I don't believe we can't take down this hunk of metal!"
The reacting thugs scattered in a fan shape, raising various firearms and aiming at Li Lin, unleashing a barrage of gunfire. This semi-enclosed space was enveloped in orange and yellow gunshots, with the air filled not only with choking haze but also a strong smell of gunpowder.
Li Lin sighed, "Ah, is life that bad? Must it be like this?"
Even before the thugs opened fire, he activated the Adaptive Defense shield. After a brief charge, a large amount of blue energy compressed and surfaced on his Infinite Armor, forming a light blue barrier.
With the blessing of three energy crystals, the armor's energy replenished rapidly, making blocking bullets with an energy shield a better choice than damaging the armor.
After the first wave of gunfire from his opponents, the thugs suddenly realized they had no impact on Li Lin whatsoever.
This... Many started to reconsider their situation.
As they frantically reloaded their weapons, Li Lin had already activated the Overload Charge, and a substantial amount of blue energy appeared on the surface of his armor. He sighed again, muttering to himself, "Well, is it necessary to go this far?"
In the face of the upcoming second wave, Li Lin chose to make a move. The thugs, who were planning to bring him down, were taken aback when he swung his arm. A high-frequency vibrating blade emerged from his right arm.
With the speed boost from Overload Charge, he swiftly moved to a strategic angle, deploying the Dual Shoulder Cannons. He aimed at the densest part of the crowd and fired two energy projectiles.
The energy projectiles swiftly approached a dozen thugs who hadn't completely dispersed yet. Upon contact with the first person, the tilted blue-white energy wave instantly burst, annihilating several people within a 1.5-meter radius.
Following that, the range shockwaves from the two projectiles sent several people within a five-meter radius flying, crashing heavily to the ground.
"Ah!"
"it hurts! shit! its painful!"
"My leg... Ah, my leg is broken!"
"This, this, this... What kind of monster is this? It's terrifying!"
If the people had harbored any illusions before, thinking that this seemingly undecorated metal lump lacked intimidation, they had completely lost their fighting spirit now. After a few seconds of stunned silence, these people decisively abandoned their writhing teammates on the ground, running away without looking back.
However, to ensure that there were no survivors to report back to the Takeda, who were planning to completely eliminate the Chem-Barons' influence, Li Lin could not let any enemies escape.
With 6 seconds left on Overload Charge, and unable to reactivate it during armor overload, Li Lin didn't want to leave anything to chance. He couldn't afford to have anyone slip through the cracks and inform Takeda.
Taking a deep breath quickly, Li Lin controlled the armor to pursue the fleeing enemies within the limited time. Two shoulder cannons, four non-charged hand cannons, one charged hand cannon, two seconds of high-energy laser beams, a punch, and several slashes...
With the blade in his right arm rising and falling, the last thug, who was lying on the ground, whimpering and begging for mercy, joined the realm of the deceased.
At this moment, the Overload Charge had just ended.
Li Lin stood in front of the headless corpse whose head had been cut off by the scorching blade, taking deep breaths to calm his pounding heart.
Although he had killed people before, this was his first time engaging in such a massacre.
This feeling of killing... wasn't particularly pleasant.
"Phew, can this prove that I'm not a bloodthirsty maniac who enjoys killing?"
Just as Li Lin began to calm down, a series of prompt sounds rang in his mind:
"You killed Muneyama Keita (Elite), 55 small thugs..."
"Congratulations! Your level has increased to level 11, gaining 3 skill points."
"Remaining skill points: 9."
"Your level has increased to level 10, unlocking the shop module!"
(End of this chapter)
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