Leyton breathed slowly as he lay flat under a shrub, the dense foilage masking his presence save for a small little opening through which his eyes peered outwards, overlooking a sandy road long weathered by wagon wheels.
He gripped the arctech radio tightly, checking the volume dial on it. Setting it too loud might spook anyone nearby, and he couldn’t talk loudly either. His left hand remained on a military-grade repeater carbine next to him as he continued observing any movements.
Suddenly, a loud roaring sound was heard next to him, causing him to tense up immediately. He soon realised it was the snoring of his partner, who was dozing off while both hands were still holding onto the rifle.
“Idiot, wake up!” Leyton hissed softly. “The fucking Seven Snakes will be coming past anytime soon!”
The partner did not wake up until Leyton smacked the back of his head, jolting him awake. “What, where?! Are they here?!” He asked frantically in a low soft tone, his eyes darting around.
“Shut up! If Grey finds out you’ve been sleeping on the job, you can forget about getting promoted next year.”
The partner rubbed the back of his head gingerly, wincing slightly as he relaxed. “Pah, you really believe the spiel Sebastian gives every year? They won’t promote us – they need foot soldiers like us to do the dirty work. Ain’t complaining; the pay’s pretty good, and look at the slick weapons they gave us!”
Leyton didn’t retort, knowing that there was truth to what his partner was saying. It’s been a while since they left the slums three years ago to join the Ardent Cretins. Back then, their naïve eyes and attitude made them feel like they were kings of the world. Until they met the higher-ups and realized they never even made a dent in the social ladder, barely even moving up a rung.
Still, Leyton would not return to the slums willingly. He was far too addicted to the standard of living of a gang associate. That’s exactly why they were here.
Suddenly, the distinctive sound of an arctech wagon began to loom from down the path coming down from Culdao Peaks Town. The partner grinned as he clenched his rifle tighter, aiming down the iron sights, but Leyton didn’t move yet, observing with his keen eyes.
The wagon soon came into clear view, chugging along slowly as it rattled down the sandy gravel path, bouncing with each pebble the wheels rolled over. The partner took aim but was blocked by Leyton quickly.
“Stop, don’t shoot yet!”
“What? Why? I thought we were supposed to shoot!”
“Not at every wagon that comes by, you idiot! We only want the Seven Snakes one – you want to be the reason we start a war with the Violet Demons?!” Leyton pointed to the edge of the wagon, which had a cryptic rune indicating that the merchant operating the wagon was under the protection of the Violet Demons.
“Right… sorry.” The partner sheepishly smiled.
Leyton turned on his arctech radio, speaking softly into the receiver. “One sinner heading to Raktor.”
[Copy that. Any signs of snakes?]
“No sir, nothing south.”
[Roger. Keep looking.]
Leyton heaved a sigh of relief as he watched the wagon go past, before he scowled at his partner. “Next time, wait for me to make the call first, alright?!”
“Alright, alright! I’m sor-“
Letyon quickly grabbed the partner’s mouth, shutting him up. “Shut up and listen. You hear that?”
The partner’s eyes widened with confusion, trying to hear as well before he shook his head. He grabbed Leyton’s hands off, spitting out a glob of saliva. “What are you hearing?”
Leyton glanced around his surroundings, looking up at the tree branches. “It sounded like footsteps of humans…”
“Really?” The partner immediately tensed up, looking all around them too. He trusted Leyton’s instincts, which was why they were paired as a spotter and a gunner duo in the first place.
However, the sound of an arctech wagon began to distract them and dominate the environment, following the same sandy road. This time Leyton noticed no markings at all on the exterior of the wagon.
“Are we clear to shoot?” The partner asked hastily.
“Wait…” Leyton waited for the wagon to go past them before he checked the back. The familiar glow of arcite ore glinted blue through the seams of cloth at the back. “Shoot! Shoot the wheels!”
The partner fired a round, cocking again before firing again. The two shots were spot on, hitting the spoke of the wheel and causing it to dent. The wobbling of the wheel caused the wagon to falter and skid off the road, slamming right into a tree trunk far away from the duo.
“Sir, snakes with blue spotted. Wagon down. Requesting hit.”
[Good work. Moving in. Pincer from the back.]
“Yes, sir. Come on; we need to make sure no one makes it out alive.” Leyton began to stand up with their partner, helping each other up.
However, before they could even stand up straight, five shots of a handgun were fired towards the partner. The partner’s armour flared to life, firing point defence projectiles to block the shots, but two made it through and nailed him in the chest and neck, causing him to scream in a gurgle of blood as he fell over.
Leyton’s training kicked in, immediately diving for cover behind a tree trunk as he readied his own rifle, cocking it. He peeked out from the side, trying to spot who was shooting at him, but the forest was suddenly quiet as though nothing had happened.
Shit, I have to warn the others! Before Leyton could turn on the arctech radio again, a female figure dropped down from the tree branches right above him, landing right in front of him. Leyton yelped as his vision was filled by an armoured knee, smashing his nose right and slamming his head against the tree trunk.
His world spun as he slumped to the floor, dizzy from the concussive impact, while the female figure whistled with her free hand as the other held a prototype handgun. Leyton eyes widened as he recognized the handguns. The ones circulating in the black market a month ago? Weren’t all of them destroyed?
At the command of the whistle, three goblins sprinted over, quickly grabbing the dying Ardent Cretin and Leyton too, hauling them off deeper into the forest.
Near the downed wagon, the front of the wagon was smashed in as though the metal itself was wrapped around the tree trunk. Smoke rose from the wagon while five armed soldiers appeared from the woods, each wielding military-grade guns and armour.
“Clear the area. Where’s the driver?” The leader asked, as one of the soldiers moved up and broke the door to the driver’s seat open.
“Sir, there’s no one inside! They rigged it to drive straight!”
The five soldiers immediately tensed up, holding their repeaters at the ready. “Retreat now, we’ve been compromised.”
“Sir, what about Leyton?”
“He’s probably already captured. Move!”
The five soldiers quickly moved through the forest away from the main road, continuously checking behind their backs. The leader began to spot signs of goblins stalking them from their left, leaping through the trees from branch to branch. “Fire a few shots in their direction, scare them back!”
As they raised their repeaters to aim to the left, Sasha and the other goblins struck from the right, firing at them. Sasha emptied the entire clip of the handgun into one soldier, overwhelming his point defence engraving and killing him on the spot.
The sheer number of arrows also caused the point defence engravings to be powered down, enabling the goblins to attack with crossbows and bows.
Grunting as he hefted his repeater, the leader aimed with pinpoint precision, sniping the heads of the goblins, killing five. As he fired his twentieth shot, he pulled the trigger again to no effect, prompting him to reach to his belt for the next magazine.
In that split moment, Sasha sprinted towards him, forcing him to use both hands on his rifle to block a punch from Sasha’s glowing right hand. The engraving on her hand boosted the force imparted, smashing the wooden cover of the repeater and bending the metal barrel hidden within.
The leader dropped the repeater immediately and threw a punch at Sasha, who blocked it with her left arm as she took a step back to avoid tripping on the dropped repeater, before lunging again with a kick from the right, nailing the leader right in the waist.
Sasha winced from the pain erupting from her shin, which impacted against the military armour, allowing the leader to recover and retrieve a small knife out, stabbing and slicing towards Sasha.
“Men! Split up!” The leader roared, still intending to retreat. However, he could see from his peripheral vision that all his soldiers were already knocked out by the sheer number of goblins. He could see from the branches that there were nearly fifty goblins.
“Shit!” The leader cursed as he tried to sprint away, only for a barrage of arrows to be fired towards him, piercing his flesh from behind as he screamed in pain.
Sasha walked up slowly to the injured leader, bending over to grab him by the collar and lifting him up. She inspected the military armour, noticing that it was similar to the ones the Seven Snakes had hijacked from the Ilysian Punks. This… could be a problem.
Haui smiled as he looked around his new store, right smack in the middle of the shopping centre facing the front lobby. The workers were busy setting up the shelves to display all sorts of potions, while he pointed out where some of the equipment should be placed in the back room.
“Liking your new store?” Kyle asked as he entered, shaking hands with Haui.
“Indeed I am. Sometimes I wonder why I have been hiding in that dodgy old little hut for such a long time.”
“But you’re not giving it up yet.”
“Of course. A man of my intellect can surely handle two stores, can’t he? I do have a few apprentices under me that can handle the more mediocre potions and their production.”
“I was under the impression you were against selling potions at a cheaper rate to the … common folk.”
“Let’s just say I’ve been enlightened by your methods. There is merit to sheer quantity after all.”
Kyle nodded in agreement. He had specifically invited Haui to set up a potion store here, with the potions aimed at being sold at a more affordable price than his previous store. The reason why Kyle could not outright sell the potions was that he did not have a license from the Alchemist Guild.
Thus, Haui was the simple solution. With this, Kyle would have yet another reason for people to come to the shopping centre, boosting the footfall yet again. By creating as many amenities in one place as much as possible, he could reinvent the entire nearby area as an economic hub under his control.
“I noticed you had a few issues with arcite fuel recently. Will I have to deal with intermittent outages?”
“The arcite fuel issues are sorted right now. However, there is still the issue of traders not willing to sell basic goods such as food and ingredients to us.”
“I can solve that easily.” Haui smiled. “There may be black market traders who are afraid of earning the ire of the Ardent Cretins, but there will also be enemies who are more than willing to see the Ardent Cretins fall. And also those who just want money regardless.”
“Then I thank you in advance.” Kyle was aware of Haui’s deep network and ties to the underground. After all, Haui brews all sorts of poison for assassinations and hitjobs illegally – such ingredients would not be easy to get legally.
“Perhaps you can thank me with a bigger tithe of your profits from the potion business.”
“Your tenancy here is already free.”
“Well, it was worth a try.”
Kyle bid farewall to Haui, walking around the shopping arcade. The roof of the building was now plastered in concentrating mirrors, while a consistent flow of arcite ore from the Culdao Peaks was guarded by Monica and other associates. Depleted ore was then funnelled to the goblin den and to a few lightconverters placed around the districts they owned, with Gordon provided the leftovers from the factory production lines. If the tunnel to Raktor was completed over the next month or so, it would be even better, with him being able to shift half of the goods underground.
The supply chain was coming together, and with Haui now helping him to solve the other issues, the shopping arcade was now back into full swing. Now that they were in the clear, his eyes were set on the companies that had previously refused to sell to him.
You wanted an economic war? You’re going to get one.
