Kain drove to the location Jimmy had given him. Though it was somewhat out of the way, it was still within New York City, not far from the suburbs. After parking his car, he stepped out and approached the door of a rather inconspicuous building. The place looked like a typical gun store, the kind you'd expect to see in the U.S. Rows of standard firearms lined the walls, the usual array of rifles, shotguns, and handguns. But Kain wasn't here for the legal merchandise; he had something else in mind—something more discreet and less... legal.
"Boss?" Kain called out after entering the store.
A man slowly rose from behind the cash register. He was a disheveled, middle-aged man with an unkempt beard that nearly blended into the messy mop of hair on his head. He looked more like a caveman than a gun shop owner.
"If you're old enough to buy a gun, feel free to look around," the man grunted, barely glancing at Kain. The shopkeeper clearly thought Kain was just another young man intrigued by the idea of owning a firearm, probably to impress his friends. Most kids like him barely had enough cash to buy the cheapest shotgun in the store, let alone something more substantial.
"Take your pick," the shopkeeper added. "If it's your first time here, I'll even give you a 10% discount."
"I've already chosen," Kain replied calmly, stepping up to the counter. He pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and placed it on the counter. The shop owner unfolded the paper and scanned the contents, his brow furrowing as he saw the list. Several of the items were highly illegal.
Kain quickly added, "I was sent by Jimmy."
The shopkeeper's frown deepened, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. "Why didn't he just send you to Stark Industries?" he asked, his tone thick with sarcasm.
Kain smirked, "Stark doesn't break the law for small money. Now, name your price."
The shop owner's face softened slightly as the conversation took a more familiar turn. He knew this game—money talks, and it seemed like Kain was prepared to play. Though the request was risky, it was clear Kain was willing to pay a high price for the illegal items on his list.
Kain took a wad of cash from his jacket and slapped it onto the counter. "$30,000 as a deposit," he said firmly. "The rest when the deal's done, and all cash."
The shopkeeper's eyes flickered at the sight of the money. Kain continued, "Besides, you know Jimmy. He wouldn't send me your way unless he trusted you."
The shop owner hesitated for a moment, weighing his options. $30,000 upfront was no small amount, especially in the year 2000. The total deal wouldn't exceed $150,000, but that was still a hefty sum for a gun shop owner. Kain was asking for a mix of items, mostly pistols, rifles, a large quantity of ammunition, and even a few grenades—definitely not things you'd find on the shelves of a regular store.
Finally, the shopkeeper nodded. "Alright. I'll have everything ready in five days. Leave an address."
Kain scribbled down an address and phone number on a piece of paper. "This is my phone. Call me before you come by."
The address he provided wasn't his primary residence. It was another house his parents had left him, located just a few blocks away, with a large garage. It was the perfect spot for receiving deliveries like this—away from prying eyes.
The shopkeeper, satisfied, pocketed the cash. "Five days," he repeated. "I'll call when it's ready."
With the deal sealed, Kain left the store and drove off, feeling a mixture of excitement and anticipation. The moment he got home, he threw himself back into his studies. The reason he was top of his class at Midtown High School wasn't just because of his natural intelligence but because of his ability to retain and absorb knowledge quickly. Yet, unlike most kids his age, Kain had no interest in spending his free time playing video games or lounging around. He had bigger plans.
Kain's self-study revolved around medical knowledge. He wasn't pursuing medicine just because he owned shares in a hospital. It was for survival. Guns and ammunition could protect him from physical threats, but medicine was his safeguard in the event of injury. His parents had left behind a library of medical texts, which he absorbed voraciously, practicing bandaging, suturing, and diagnosing illnesses on dummies he kept in the house. So far, he had a 100% success rate—though, as he mused to himself, it would be a different challenge to apply these skills to real people in life-or-death situations.
That night, he felt a buzz of excitement. In five days, when his shipment arrived, he'd finally be ready to test his system properly. Kain's cheat ability, his mysterious system, was the key to his survival and success in this Marvel world. Sure, it was dangerous to dabble in the illegal arms trade, but Kain had long since accepted the risks. As an ordinary human in an extraordinary world, there were few paths to real power. The system was his best option.
He'd thought long and hard about it. The life of a rich, ordinary man wasn't enough for him. He wanted more—he wanted power. He wanted to see what other worlds had to offer.
As he relaxed with a glass of red wine that evening, he activated the system interface, a transparent panel only visible to him. The interface was simple but functional, displaying his next task: selecting a world. The system's unique ability allowed him to connect to other worlds and establish trade deals, but there was a catch: the first trade in any world was always the riskiest. Kain had to negotiate the deal in person, with no guarantee of success. However, once that first deal was made, the system would allow him to freely travel between the Marvel world and the newly discovered one.
Additionally, the system had fifty storage slots, each capable of holding massive quantities of items. The storage capacity was immense—one slot could store up to 999 units of a single type of item, with each unit representing up to 100 kilograms. If Kain chose to trade something basic, like flour, he could store nearly 5,000 tons of it in his system. This storage feature was invaluable for transporting large quantities of goods across worlds.
Risk and reward danced closely together. But if Kain could survive the initial danger, the rewards would be immense. He could build wealth and power, not just in the Marvel world but across multiple worlds.
"I'll take the risk," Kain muttered to himself, finishing his wine. He had no interest in a quiet, luxurious life. He wanted to see and experience more—much more. And with the system at his side, he was ready to take his first step toward a much larger destiny.