The taxi stopped in front of the Six-Shooter Gun Shop, and Chen Ke paid the fare before stepping out and into the shop. The clock hanging on the wall of the gun shop chimed right then, ringing "duang duang duang" twelve times.
Chen Ke realized that since he had arrived in this world, he had only been here for a little more than ten hours, yet he had experienced so much; it was incredibly fulfilling.
The chubby man sprawled on the counter immediately stood up when he saw Chen Ke again and turned to knock on the Red Door behind him.
Chen Ke, with his hands buried in his trench coat pockets, waited and swept his gaze across the many long guns hanging on the wall.
Pihom emerged from the door, still holding a Medieval flintlock that he was carefully wiping. The gun's flint had been replaced with a new one, and the gold inlay on the wooden body was somewhat faded.
"Nice gun," commented Chen Ke, noticing that Pihom was a gun enthusiast.
"This is my favorite gun," Pihom said proudly, looking at his collection as if it were a treasure.
"I thought you preferred Colt revolvers; I didn't expect you to be an antique gun lover," Chen Ke shrugged.
"Do you know? The previous owner of this gun was Blackbeard," Pihom said with a mysterious smile.
Blackbeard?
The one from the Age of Navigation?
"I've imagined more than once how many sailors this gun must have killed back in the day; it's definitely a chilling weapon. Unfortunately, I only have one. I heard that Edward Teach, Blackbeard himself, had a total of four guns," Pihom lifted the gun above his head, clicking his tongue in admiration.
"I think most of the sailors were probably killed by the cannons of the Queen Anne, with that ship around, Edward Teach... wouldn't have had many chances to use his guns," Chen Ke spread his hands.
"Don't talk nonsense, young man, never underestimate the importance of a handgun at any time!" Pihom's tone rose a bit, annoyed by Chen Ke's comment, and he tucked the gun-cleaning cloth into his pocket.
"Yes, yes... Let's get down to business," Chen Ke waved his hand.
"Don't be impatient, young man. The more time you have, the longer you look, and the more you think, the clearer your path forward will become," Pihom said with a smile.
"I'm only concerned with what happens within the next 10 hours; we're not promised tomorrow, Pi," Chen Ke replied.
Pihom's smile faded, he tilted his head towards the Red Door behind the counter, gesturing for Chen Ke to follow him through it. The two of them, one after the other, proceeded down a small passage and descended the stairs.
The staircase going down wasn't very long. Chen Ke followed Pihom through a blue door into a very spacious underground space.
Surrounded by pitch-black darkness without any lights to illuminate how vast the basement really was, Chen Ke could clearly see two red outlines in the darkness.
"+1 hour"
"+1 hour"
...
The numbers of the life countdown were incessantly changing, flickering back and forth between 10:00 and 09:59.
Chen Ke couldn't help being somewhat surprised; regardless of his own ability to kill, he was now fully armed, yet these two people could still pose such a big threat to him. They either had powerful weapons, or they were higher-level investigators or Spiritual Ability Users!
Within his visible range, a small laptop sat on a table, the only source of light in the room.
Pihom leaned on the table with his hands, the blue glow of the screen casting a cold light on his aged face.
The sound of the door locking behind them echoed; Chen Ke looked back to see there was no way out.
"Take a seat, young man," Pihom said.
Chen Ke pulled over a chair and sat down with composure.
"I'll tell you right now what my little group does. You're out of options; either join us or die here. This is the choice you've made for yourself," Pihom declared.
Pihom managed an underground organization that specialized in collecting Holy Relics called "Postmen." Its members were all ordinary people but were skilled in knowledge and weapons to deal with Spiritual Monsters. The team wasn't large, but every member was an elite.
The organization's way of collecting Holy Relics was very crude and simple; they didn't enter Black Box Spaces or venture into the wild Spirit Explosion Ruins, but rather carried out direct robberies!
In fact, many of the big companies in the Spiritual Power Industry were somewhat engaged in illegal smuggling and hiding Holy Relics. If discovered by the Administration Bureau, the punishment would be severe. These companies' private stashes of Holy Relics became prime targets for the Postmen.
Even if robbed, they wouldn't dare call the police.
An idea crossed Chen Ke's mind. He knew from the beginning that whatever Pihom's organization was doing couldn't be particularly noble, but he had never expected it to be so straightforward.
Postal workers themselves didn't need those Holy Relics; they were simply drawn into the shadowy conflicts between Spiritual Ability Enterprises, earning money through these dealings. These major corporations would hire organizations like postal workers to steal Holy Relics from their competitors to achieve their goals.
For Chen Ke, this was a good opportunity to collect Holy Relics. If he secretly took a few, who would know?
"Have you decided to join us now? Decide quickly!" Pihom asked.
Chen Ke leaned back in his chair and thought for a bit.
This organization would allow him to delve into the dark side of the Spiritual Power Industry, uncovering more useful intelligence and giving him access to a large number of ready-made Holy Relics to enhance his strength.
The only hesitation for Chen Ke was that even though he now had a lifespan of 10 hours, which was rather comfortable, he still needed to ensure a fighting frequency of at least every 5 hours. It was impossible for the postal workers to have commissions every day, and not every commission would result in a shootout.
Without a steady stream of killing intent, Chen Ke wouldn't live long. The postal workers could provide him with information and Holy Relics, but when it came to life extension, he had to rely on himself.
Before confronting Pankia, he had to continuously hunt things like sewer toads to extend his lifespan, to make himself more at ease.
Since postal workers could grant him access to the underbelly of the Spiritual Power Industry, uncovering information about Spiritual Ability-infected monsters shouldn't be too hard.
As for whether he could solve the problem of his life countdown after finding Pankia...
Chen Ke could only put all his chips on the belief that he could!
"I'll join," Chen Ke said.
"First, tell me, what do you know about Holy Relics?" Pihom asked.
"Online they say those things are just pretty stones. But surely you don't think so," Chen Ke replied tentatively.
"Have you seen them?"
More than seen them, I've used them, are you scared?
"Never seen them."
"That Spiritual Ability Pistol you have on you, can you use it?"
Pihom stared into his eyes as though he were a human lie detector, and Chen Ke had to admit Pihom's gaze was very sharp, something most people couldn't withstand the pressure of.
"Can't use it."
"You're lying!"
Pihom drew an M1911A1 and aimed it at Chen Ke's head.
"I can't use that gun; I'm not an investigator," Chen Ke said without changing his expression.
"I've never used it."
"I'll count to three, you'd better tell the truth."
"I've never used it."
"One!"
"Go to hell, Pihom."
"Two!"
"Is your brain stuffed with Flame Magnum Bullets?"
"Three!"
"Go kiss your damn gun, son of a beach."
A red scanning light swept over Chen Ke's body, and Pihom looked toward the dark side of the room, his expression a mix of anticipation and tension.
"He's clean, no Spiritual Energy response, not even a little bit," a man in the dark said.
No sooner had the voice faded than several white daylight lamps suddenly turned on, bringing the entire room into view.
Two men in suits, each holding a rifle and a shotgun, stood not far away; several monitors hung on the wall to the left, and this basement was, in fact, replete with many rooms and corridors, resembling an underground fortress.
"Welcome to the postal workers, young man! This here is our safe house!" Pihom changed from his previous cold and ruthless demeanor to a smile like a jolly uncle from the United Federation, reaching out to shake Chen Ke's hand.