There are many ghost towns in the wasteland. Some were built for extracting oil, and after the resources were depleted, people left. Others were grand but failed developments, abandoned when profits were nowhere to be found. Some were former farming hubs, deserted when agriculture became impossible for various reasons.
Now, those former farmers and workers, now outlaws, gather in one such ghost town.
Bang.
Panam closed the door and walked with an energy that made her seem like she could take flight.
"It's been a long time since we had such a fun job—Saul, see? I told you we should've gone back to what we do best!"
"But it's too early to tell if it's worth it."
"Worth it? Look at these four armored vehicles! With a few tweaks, they could be our main force. The armor! The engines!"
"I've heard rumors someone down south managed to get a Behemoth. Well, now we've got some good stuff too!"
"Vehicles won't get us through this. What we need is weapons, supplies."
Saul remained calm, but soon Cedric stepped out of one of the vehicles, saying, "Saul, look at your stiff face! If I were one of your men, I'd slap you to wake you up! This is just the beginning!"
Everyone instinctively looked at Saul, who felt uncomfortable—Are they really thinking about slapping me?
"... It has been a big haul, but there's no turning back now."
Cedric tapped Saul with his cane. "Come on, the city folk have always seen us as criminals. This is no different."
He turned to his young tribe members, waving his cane. "No matter what Elder Aldecaldo says—I'm telling you, you all did great! Keep it up!"
The Red Ocher tribe boys were still relishing their recent carjacking success. Hearing Cedric's words, they instantly shouted in unison, "Awesome!"
Panam crossed her arms and, with a chuckle, added, "Idiots, but I like it." Then, standing beside Saul, she remarked sarcastically, "Too bad we have a leader who loves to disagree."
Saul gave her a disapproving look and then turned his attention forward.
"The trucks are here—let's see what we've got."
Two Columbus cargo trucks, with bumpers barely hanging on, rolled into town.
As the trucks stopped, they made a loud creaking sound, almost like a dying donkey, and then belched out a cloud of black smoke.
The scene was rather worrying, but the trucks themselves weren't worth much. The important thing was what was inside.
What was inside would shock this group of ragtag nomads.
Leo stood by the weapons cache and began distributing guns.
"Get a couple of people who can modify vehicles. Install the MK31 on one of the trucks."
"Hand out these Ajax rifles—they're military models with experimental high-tech enhancements. The hotter the barrel gets, the faster they shoot. They eat through ammo, but this military-grade stuff hits way harder than what you're used to."
"Here's a Satara-modified version with armor-piercing shells. It's not great against vehicles, but it'll punch right through personal armor—there's even a single-shot armor-piercing version here. It's powerful, so someone steady should take it."
Navi raised his hand, "I'll take it. The leader's supposed to be at the front, right?"
Leo looked surprised but nodded. "It's yours. Handle it carefully. Most vehicle armor won't stand up to this thing, but the recoil is brutal."
Navi nodded. "I'll use it well."
After that, they handed out a variety of anti-armor weapons, heavy artillery, and anti-air missiles.
Ammunition, grenades, and explosives were the last to be distributed, and by the end, they were armed to the teeth.
Besides weapons, the shipment also included plenty of bulletproof armor.
Once they donned the armor and helmets and mounted the MK31 on a vehicle, they would have an infantry fighting vehicle.
With the armored vehicle in front and the MK31-equipped truck as an infantry fighting vehicle, they'd use drones as their information hub, providing real-time battlefield data and enabling cyber warfare remotely.
It was starting to look like a real army.
Once they stormed the Wraith's stronghold, they could toss grenades or SPH explosive launchers to take out enemies behind cover. Even if the Wraiths had drones, they could deploy EMP grenades to disrupt them.
Taking down the Wraiths stronghold wouldn't be a problem.
If they encountered military tech units, they could break out the recoilless M5 rocket launcher for anti-armor action. And if helicopters or hovercraft showed up, they had ground-to-air missiles ready.
In fact, Leo hoped militech's air units would show up—it would be a chance to give them a hard hit.
With everything in hand, the nomads quickly began modifying the vehicles, and Leo himself needed to make some adjustments.
He still had two Kang Tao Ba Xing Chong smart shotguns—the high-explosive shells were used up, but there was no shortage of smart shotgun ammo.
Besides sourcing supplies from Dogtown, David had also brought in smart ammo used by the carnage shotguns.
With the finished product and blueprints on hand, Leo could adjust the ammo himself using his tech gloves.
With a bang, Leo secured the Ba Xing Chong on both sides on his vehicle, then jumped down and shouted to the vehicle modders still tweaking the mounted machine guns:
"We've got an hour to fine-tune the gear! The attack starts after sunset—move it!"
Leo walked over to where Maine, David, and a few others were repairing vehicles. "This time went pretty well, though there were some hiccups."
Transaction: -80,000 eddies
Account balance: 55,648 eddies
"Thanks, boss!"
David was so excited after receiving the money that he bowed deeply.
Everyone nearby looked at him strangely—even Leo felt uncomfortable. "Kid, can you act normal? I'm not some corporate lapdog from Arasaka!"
"Uh, then what should I say?"
Leo rubbed his forehead. "You get paid for the work, and you're thanking me? Whatever. Get the car fixed and head back; you're done here."
"I..."
David tried to say something, but Lucy covered his mouth immediately—
"We'll be on our way then."
However, Maine spoke up from behind, "There's not much work in the city right now—seems like you're planning something big. We could keep working together, right? You need more people, don't you?"
Leo raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"
Maine nodded, and the rest of his crew had no objections.
No kidding—they barely made enough to cover their medical bills after the last job, and they still had to pay off the car loan. If they didn't take on more work, they'd starve.
Seeing his situation, Leo stroked his chin. "Is the city really that bad?"
Maine nodded. "Pretty bad. The cyberspace seems chaotic, but we're not netrunners. We've got to find work somehow."
Honestly, Maine's team was well-rounded and quite capable.
If they added David and Lucy…
Leo glanced over at them.
Lucy waved her hand dismissively. "We'll pass on this one. It looks dangerous."
"It is dangerous—look around. You just transported two full trucks of restricted military equipment. I won't lie to you, we're short on manpower right now. If you join, I can offer 120,000 as payment."
The offer was still highly tempting—
Lucy bit her nails, visibly torn.
Kiwi, who had been quiet, raised her hand and said to Maine, "Shouldn't we ask what exactly we're doing?"
Leo chuckled. "You're not stupid—look around. What do you think we're doing?
We're going to war. We're taking on the Wraiths, and if mili tech gets in our way, we'll take them down too. Now, knowing that, you can still walk away. But if you stay, decide by nightfall."
David and Lucy exchanged glances, still hesitating—
Cough, cough.
The car window slowly rolled down, and Leo glanced up at the mysterious figure inside—V.
V sat there, looking cold and serious, and said in a deep voice:
"Think it over, kid. A nobody, or a legend?"
David immediately covered Lucy's mouth. "We're in!"