The journey from the suburbs to the commercial street in the Lower District of Opportunity City was not short, and even by cab it took more than 30 minutes. Chen Ke sat in the back seat, silently watching the street scenes pass by.
He was dressed in Chris's clothes, wearing a faded light blue striped shirt on top, the cuffs and collar already turning somewhat white.
His lower half was in brown suit pants, and since Chen Ke's legs were longer than Chris's, a bit of his ankles were exposed. The blue socks and worn brown leather shoes looked quite shabby.
His underwear was blue.
Wearing someone else's clothes felt awkward no matter the position, so Chen Ke decided to first buy the things he needed on the commercial street before discussing joining the organization at Pihom's gun store.
He simply listed in his mind the items on his shopping list.
First, he needed a set of clothes, well-fitting underwear, pants, and shoes suitable for exercise, and most importantly, a trench coat with pockets large enough.
Chen Ke needed to carry at least three guns, plenty of spare magazines, and other items like daggers, and the coat had to cover these weapons. Moreover, it had to accommodate the potential future addition of weapons like shotguns.
Not to mention full-sized shotguns like the Remington M870, at the very least, there had to be an inner pocket in the trench coat large enough to fit a shortened type like the Super Shorty.
Next, he needed a waterproof bag with a large enough volume. The blonde Assassin's triangle bag was too small. As someone who needed to carry all his belongings with him, Chen Ke required a sturdy tactical bag that was also waterproof.
Chen Ke recalled a military brand called 5.11 Tactical. Now that he was in the United Federation, it wouldn't be too difficult to acquire.
After that, he needed a cellphone. He urgently required access to the internet and a way to keep in contact with potential allies, like Pihom.
Chen Ke had initially hoped that Pihom would help him solve the problem of obtaining a SIM card. After all, he was essentially undocumented and thus unable to get one. But later, he learned from Chris that in addition to contract-based SIM cards, the United Federation also had prepaid cards that could be activated and used immediately upon purchase, with no formalities required. Of course, as for a bank account, he would have to think of a solution for that.
As for holsters and various firearms and ammunition, Pihom's gun store should be able to fulfil all his needs.
Even in the depressed Lower District, one could spot the presence of Walmart, the biggest retail giant across the entire federation.
Approaching 10 am, there was not much shopping activity in the store, and the vast sales area was quiet and empty, with employees in dark blue uniforms idly leaning against the shelves and whispering to one another.
Chen Ke quickly searched through the store, and he had to admit, it was quite novel to browse a western department store for the first time because you would never believe that a department store would also sell these things:
On the green shelves of electronic video games in the inner area of the first floor were stacks of GTA4 and FIFA09 discs, while the opposite blue shelves were piled with MGS4 and PES 2009. An employee was playing Gears of War 2 on the Xbox 360 in the display case. The unattended PS3 display unit was showing the opening animation of the recent new game "The Lord of the Rings: Conquest."
Further on was the military area, where a green bin was filled to the brim with boxed 5.56mm caliber bullets, and the wall was hung with more than thirty civilian single-shot rifles in AR-15 style and various shotguns.
It was the weapon discount season, and the previously priced 335 union coins AR-15 now sold for just 257. Chen Ke also specifically checked the prices of the Remington M870 and Winchester M70 rifles, both having 30% off discounts, which was very tempting.
Chen Ke was very interested in many of the long guns, but considering the inconvenience of carrying them, he had to give up the idea; after all, he couldn't walk the streets with a long gun on his back. If he had the chance later on, he might try compact submachine guns like the Charge.
In a corner of the military goods area, he found the 5.11 Tactical counter, where an array of military equipment caught his eye. Chen Ke had never imagined that one day these items would become a necessity for him.
Chen Ke immediately set his sights on the RUSH24 BACKPACK 37L Charge backpack. Its water-resistant and wear-resistant quality first-rate, greatly expanding his carrying capacity. Plus, it could switch between single and double-shoulder straps, could be worn slung or backpack style, without a second thought, he shelled out 169 union coins for it.
At the same time, he spent 189 union coins to buy two pairs of black ABR Trainer sports shoes. For long runs and battles, such sneakers were far more comfortable than leather shoes.
As for the various accompanying Charge jackets, baseball caps, cargo pants, and the like from 5.11 Tactical, he didn't plan to buy any. Although it was easy to assemble a low-threat penetration outfit with 5.11 gear, Chen Ke preferred dressing in suits and trench coats.
Just as he was about to go upstairs to pick out clothes, his gaze was drawn to an ARK tactical liner lock folding knife in the cabinet. The clerk saw him observing it for a while and simply took the knife out of the cabinet and handed it to him to play with.
Chen Ke felt the knife, flipping out the blade, which was coated with a black oxidized layer. If not sharpened, the overall length was about 8cm, with a blade length of 6cm, and there were serrations near where the blade met the handle, very practical.
"The handle of this knife is made of G10 material, and it can also be threaded with a cord to hang on the hand; it's quite nice to hold. Although it's unlikely you'll use it to stab someone, the knife is also great as a tool for traveling and daily life," the clerk could tell Chen Ke really liked the knife and tempted him.
Military goods are toys for men; Chen Ke's thoughts shifted, and with 75 union coins spent, the knife went into his bag.
He briskly went up to the second floor to the ready-to-wear area and firstly bought several sets of underwear; then, he started to select his own attire.
At a glance, he liked a dark grey jacket trench coat, but upon checking the price tag which read "1,999.99$", he cursed in his mind and walked away.
There was no need to buy something too expensive, he wouldn't use it.
Chen Ke turned to a brand area with not-so-exaggerated prices and bought three pairs of blue jeans, three dark red shirts, two gray trench coats, three belts, spending a total of 600 union coins.
Chen Ke pushed his shopping cart up to the third floor, the electronics sales area, where the listless clerks huddled together to chat. He saw many brands familiar from past memories; Motorola, Nokia, and Sony Ericsson were still the mainstream mobile phone brands at the time, and the iPhone had just taken off but wasn't yet the absolute market leader. Chen Ke, looking at the familiar models in the cabinet, couldn't help but become nostalgic.
In his world, these brands either vanished or were reduced to pale shadows of their former selves.
He detested touch screen phones, so he didn't consider the iPhone 3G series, and the Android system in '09 was still crap, not worth buying.
Chen Ke wandered over to other brand counters; at the Nokia counter, he saw a red full-keyboard bar phone, a model he didn't recall ever hearing about.
The price tag read: E63, and beside it was the classic E71. Chen Ke suddenly remembered, this was an era where technology primarily consisted of swapping out cases! This E63 was probably a cheaper, mass-market version of the E71.
Unlike the E71's full metal case, the E63 featured an ABS plastic case and a CPU with a lower clock speed, while its camera had been downgraded from 3.2 megapixels to 2 megapixels. But this machine had its advantages too.
First off, the price was just 69 union coins, cheaper than the E71. And it used the same Symbian S60V3 system with a battery capacity of 1500mAh, on par with the E71.
Most importantly, the E63 was available with colorful cases. Who doesn't like colorful cases?
Chen Ke decisively made the payment and scored a red E63. He picked up the phone's box, tossed it into his cart, and randomly bought a 59 union coin prepaid phone card.
All set, Chen Ke, laden with big and small bags, walked out of Walmart. In total, this trip cost him 1161 union coins. Fortunately, Chen Ke didn't have expenses like food, so it didn't hurt too much. He quickly hailed a cab and rushed back to the motel.