Chapter. 13. Hunters, Scavengers, and Swordsmen (5)
****
Damp, humid air.
The stench of rotting protein that is fishy and irritates the nose.
People who pass by with wary eyes, hiding a lot of things in the rags they wear like scavengers.
Ian took a deep breath as if he was taking all of this deep into his heart.
Although he hated to admit it, it was an unpleasantly familiar environment for him, who had lived in the shade more than in the sun.
‘Now it’s become a bit more like a black market.’
The byproduct market was more crowded than expected. In front of the butcher who was cutting up meat of unknown origin under a red lantern, people wearing old hoods and blankets were waiting for their turn, and next to it was a store selling various used cutlery and clothing bags.
Ian passed by calmly and took a quick look at the clothes in the store. At first glance, it looked like just a used goods exchange, but as the place was, there were many suspicious aspects.
‘The part covered with the patch is a bullet hole. The long, slitted part is the repair of the part that was hit by a sword.’
‘I roughly cleaned the blade and didn’t even grind the part where the teeth came out. ‘You just hand over a machete that you can get full price for by spending half a day on it.’
When I worked as an arms dealer in the past, I often saw items like that. Scavengers: Among them, items produced by those called human hunters.
That’s something taken from a corpse. Or maybe they made a corpse and took it off.
‘I heard that the market is very healthy even within the scope of Dome’s management. There was a reason for everything.’
As the by-product market, a shadowy area, grew rapidly, they established their own areas and naturally other illegal business operators came to rely on their shadow. Stolen goods exchange in the human meat market. Drugs and moonshine. Then, naturally, there will be something that cannot be left out when talking about black trading in the wasteland.
Ian looked at the people passing by him through his sunglasses. A young man with wide eyes. The crackling sound of a cheap wooden prosthetic leg. A man wearing a thick cloak. Uneasy eyes holding the long object wrapped in a swaddle in his arms like a treasure…
“Hey.”
Ian violently pulled the last man’s shoulder toward him. With a short intake of breath, the man’s dry hand reached for his arms, pulled out a dagger, and stabbed him.
Of course, Ian knew how the criminals would react, so instead of dodging the knife, he stabbed him on the shoulder he was holding. The man’s sword, who had lost his balance, cut through the air, and his outstretched arm was easily broken just by holding it at his side and pulling. An expression of pain and suffering appeared on the man’s face.
“Ahh! Let it go! “You definitely paid the price!”
“You’re a very shy friend. “I said I was going to ask for directions, but you didn’t like it that much?”
Ian grabbed the man who was writhing in pain and used his toes to gently loosen the long swaddle he had dropped. After checking the contents, Ian turned his eyes to the man.
“It’s a P-type Gauss Rifle… It looks like it has a lot of money, right? Even if the transitional equipment was released from the dome, it would cost well over a few million shillings to own something like this on the black market, where firearms are prohibited in unauthorized transactions…” “
This is something that was taken over by Raddish.” Hey!”
“Hoo. “Radish…”
At those words, Ian gently released the man’s arm, and the man began to shout in a loud voice, as if he thought his threat had worked.
“okay! Anyone who frequents the black market probably doesn’t know how crazy Radish is! “Even if this is the territory of the white whale, if you touch Radish, you will all die!”
“Oh my. oh my god. “So, I’m dead for touching something that goes to Raddish?”
“Hehehe! okay! How excited was Radish for this product! It’s too late to cry and ask for forgiveness! I memorized your whole face! “Your face…”
The man gathered his free arm and looked at the face of the man who had persecuted him with a look of renewed energy. A large man with his back to the red light of a butcher shop, short hair slicked back, carrying a gun case the size of a coffin…
“Metal… right? Of BDSM?”
“oh. He seemed to know a lot about this and that. You know my face too, right? Is this a big problem? “This is as good as a dead life, isn’t it?”
Rattling rattling!
Ian grinned, baring his teeth like a villain, holding the head of the man who was walking backwards because his legs were loose.
“hey. “Let’s ask something.”
“Hey!”
The man nodded frantically in front of Ian’s face, which was close to his nose. The BDSM mark engraved on the large man’s back was clearly visible to the eyes of the people who retreated like the ebb of the sudden commotion.
****
Surprisingly, there was also a cafe within this black market. Of course, it was a drug cafe where people enjoyed things like marijuana and narcotic substances rather than selling tea or coffee, but they also sold pretty good cigarettes, so Ian liked it.
The man who was dragged by his hand, Auker, felt much more stable just from the atmosphere alone. Of course, that was also thanks to the fact that, contrary to his thoughts that Ian would immediately drag him out of the market, he bought him a drink and a luxury cigar that his budget could not even dream of.
“So, you didn’t come here because the Dome ordered you to do it, but you came here to make a deal?”
“Yeah dude. If you had come here to sort things out, would you have come alone like this? I came here with my kids and even the inspection department attached. I came here to see if there were any good weapons for sale. “Let’s sell some of our extra weapons.”
“But… BDSM guys work with the president…”
“Have you seen this ignorant bastard! Hey, you said you were working with that Raddish guy or something. If that guy were to die, would you die?”
“Uh, that’s…”
“No, right? After all, it’s not a business, it’s a business! “I got involved with Dom because Fei is the best in many ways, and we are ultimately people who work outside the company.”
“Hehe… Well, what is so bad about a BDSM armed group that they would bow down to a president who is fiddling with documents… If you think about it, everyone who is alive today owes their lives to BDSM Professor Park!”
“yes! A friend who knows something! “Dome doesn’t know how expensive life is in the wasteland?”
“Hehehe! As you know, aren’t the scavengers and shadow people who live directly in the wilderness closer to that kind of thing? In the behind-the-scenes world, the name value of BDSM carries considerable weight. “The respect for that is amazing!”
“Hehehe! I like it! “Would you like another drink?”
“Hi! That’s right! “You’re not an asshole who turns down free drinks!”
Ian patted the back of a man named Auker and quickly looked around.
‘If there is an arms dealer, the organization that manages this area must be considered well-armed. There are two organizations that have been confirmed. Radish and Moby Dick. They said this is Moby Dick’s territory, so it would be safe to say that this guy and the guys who followed me from outside are members of that organization.’
What did Professor Park do? When he picks up a few things, he starts whining like a puppy that wants to poop, and then all of a sudden, this is it! I used to move while doing it.
Since he didn’t have that kind of talent, he had no choice but to grab someone and ask him. Fortunately, this place is not unified under the management of one organization, but is divided into at least two spheres of influence, and the guy in front of me does not belong to the faction in the alley he is currently in.
When I asked, he was reluctant to mention those guys called Raddish, but on the other hand, he was willing to talk about his counterpart, Moby Dick.
“Let alone the black market trading of firearms. Prosthetic hands using mutant by-products? “What is that?”
“How can I know everything that those whalers are doing? I can only say that their skills are amazing. You know, there aren’t a lot of idiots in the wasteland, right? I don’t know if it goes through cleanly, but if a bullet gets stuck in it, it needs to be removed surgically, but there aren’t many people who know how to do that. If you’re unlucky, it’ll rot away and you’ll have to cut it off. They say they do business with people like that.”
“That’s it. What do by-products have to do with that?”
“A proper prosthetic hand is usually not a complicated thing. There is no technology or factory to make such delicate parts, so the only prosthetics available are pieces of wood or plastic connected to the remaining parts. But these guys added some variation to it to make it move better or something. Perhaps because they are made from the human body, they are said to cause less inflammation than if a piece of metal were stuck in. What’s more, the handsome Professor Park of the BDSM show left such a strong impression that more than one guy has a fantasy about a mutant body attached to a human body. So, I think the business is doing better than expected. I don’t know how I made the connection, but I also have quite a bit of transitional equipment. So, I heard they rake in money using weapons and other strange things.”
When Ian asked, Auker looked suspiciously, but when he saw his shiny chin, he nodded as if he understood.
“Anyway, we don’t know the source. It’s just that they are doing business like that. As I said, the location is in the alley between the guy who sells flour over there and the house that gives out human loans. The real deal is all done there. Hmm. The cost of alcohol ends here. “If I say more, the guy drinking behind us will throw his glass at my head.”
Auker said that and pointed to the men occupying seats around him. Guys wearing messy capes, each sipping a drink. These were the guys that Ian was also keeping an eye on. The bulges inside the thin cloaks clearly showed that they were members of an organization called Moby Dick. He probably heard the commotion outside and followed him.
Ian thought for a moment and took the hand that Auker held out to him as he stood up.
“I’m sorry I caught you on a busy road. “Say hello to that guy named Raddish.”
“If BDSM’s Metal Joe passes by saying he’s buying a drink but he’s busy, that must be a real asshole. For a 10-minute story, it was well worth the price. If you see me again next time, please be kind. “Don’t make a fuss.”
Auker said that and hurriedly disappeared, carrying the latest firearm wrapped in a sack.
Ian looked at his back for a moment, looked at the small piece of paper that Auker passed into his palm, pretending to shake hands, and then burned it with a cigarette and blew it away.
———
This is not the price of alcohol, it is not the price of life.
Moby Dick is from Raptor. I don’t know if it came out on its own or if it was planted there, but there are more than one scavenger who said they saw that kid in the wheelchair from the Raptor side. Even the legendary HIV Metal Joe would be turned into a hive if he went into their lair alone.
Oh, and I don’t work with those turnip bastards. There is a company called Toothnip Delivery, which provides delivery services and other odd jobs that you want to hide dirty work from. It’s in the basement billiards room of an abandoned building two blocks down from the pizza place. If you have anything to do, come see me. I won’t do it cheaply. Because we don’t owe each other anymore.
———
“It’s a back-world transportation company… Perhaps because the three districts were merged into the Dome Autonomous Region, back-alley work seems to have been subdivided as well. “Organizations are becoming more diverse.”
At first glance, the thing he was holding didn’t seem like an ordinary thing, so I tried shaking it off and it was definitely not an ordinary thing. They are probably walking a tightrope between this group and that group, working as a service provider and doing odd jobs. Those guys have a lot of on-site information, so the reliability of their information is quite high. Thanks to you, I got a lot of good information.
Information about Moby Dick, an organization that may be Raptor’s liaison, and Radish, an opposing organization. And BDSM, to be precise, Professor Park’s name is more deeply engraved in the minds of people in the wasteland than you might think.
Ian stood up, feeling the attention of those around him pouring on him.
“It was good. how much?”
To Ian, who was rummaging through his pockets, the Master, who was smoking a cigarette, handed out a metal case the size of his palm instead of a price tag.
“I don’t need the money, just take it. It’s filled with pretty good stuff. “I enjoy smoking.”
“…Do you do that too? “The price of your life?”
“Cuban cigars aren’t worth the price of your life when you’re all old and have nothing left. “The Type 3 variant you carried on the back of your tank three months ago.”
“Three months ago… Oh, that long, tight-waisted tabby cat?”
“okay. He ate my wife and daughter. “Thanks to you, I can stand in front of my family’s graves, so take that with you.”
At those words, Ian opened the case. There were six fat cigars with a unique and profound scent that could be felt even from afar.
When Ian, who had become angry, took one out at once, the old master cut off the end with a cutter and lit it on fire.
“It’s literally a killer. “I can use it well.”
“If you have painful memories that cannot be forgotten with just alcohol and time, please stop by often.”
“Hehe. “Then I guess I should come every day.”
“…You’re having a hard time too.”
The Master shook his head and turned his back to congratulate the guests, and Ian, who had finished his business, left the drug cafe without saying anything.
Is it because I smoke cigars so strong that my throat hurts? I felt quite familiar with the dull atmosphere of the black market.
Ian hummed, passed by the people who looked surprised at his jacket or raised their hats, and entered the alley that Auker had mentioned.
‘It’s a prosthetic arm… Come to think of it, the Raptors were using a lot of those terminally ill cyborgs. Aren’t we bound to be interested in the study of alternative bodies? ‘They are not so bland that you would reject them as a by-product of a mutation.’
The narrow alley turned inside and turned downhill. From the downhill rough cut with a pickaxe back to the cement and painted underground building. An old parking barrier and a faint trace of paint called B3 remaining in one corner indicated what kind of building this was originally.
‘It looks like there was something like an underground parking lot here before it was melted by Zeus. It looks like the top has melted to become a ceiling, and black market bastards are digging it out and using it as a lair.’
As I moved forward, I saw a woman holding a machine gun and a man holding a complex mechanical battle hammer. Just by looking at the poses in which they were holding their weapons, it was clear that the two men and women were having fun. Ian’s body also gained strength. My body was telling me that it was enemy territory from here on out.
The woman’s side has two legs. On the man’s side, the right arm and eye.
It had a mechanical exterior that was very similar to the Raptor cyborg I had seen before.
“Metal Jora of BDSM. As I live so far away, I see all sorts of things. “A fire-breathing frog, a raptor with all its internal organs replaced, and now a special forces leader who is well-known throughout the wasteland.”
“why. Is it interesting? “Would you like me to sign it?”
“oh! It’s good. The name Metal Joe left as his last will is three. “It will sell expensively.”
“Enough nonsense, Mahmer. So, what does the leader of BDSM, who fights bloody hard for good citizens like us, do to the black market?”
Contrary to the light atmosphere, I felt a sense of tension as if they would attack me immediately. Ian looked at the distance between the two people and answered cheerfully.
“Would you believe me if I told you that I came here to have fun and came in because I saw you?”
“Pahahaha! “Risa, this bullshit is one step above mine?”
The man smiled and squeezed the lever of the battle hammer, while the woman moved her finger to the trigger of the machine gun. Ian also took a deep breath to make a momentary move.
‘Block the machine gun with the gun case, then pull out the shotgun and cut it from the ground up. If you swing something like a rocket hammer in a narrow passage, you’ll all be crushed to death.’
The sentry was probably erected with that in mind. For a criminal organization, they are meticulous in their preparations and even show loyalty to the point of disregarding their own lives.
At that time, Ian’s suspicions about Raptor’s sphere of influence are turning into confidence, and an air of imminence flows between the three men and women.
“Stop it. Why are you just sitting around fighting if you don’t have enough food? “When the time comes, you should at least put an electromagnet on the ceiling so it can drag you in.”
When a clucking sound and an old, grayish voice were heard from inside the alley, the two men and women who were confronting Ian were startled and ran into the alley. Inside, an angry and embarrassed voice could be heard between an old man called ‘Elder’ and a man and a woman arguing, but Ian was staring blankly at the alley where they had disappeared, without even thinking of attacking the man and woman who had turned their backs.
Professor and Vex Ian.
Although the three of us never talked about it, we all thought about it at least once.
Area 43 was occupied by Raptor and the acquaintances left behind there.
Hearing the familiar voice, Ian was defenseless and took one step closer to the alley, where he didn’t know how many enemies there might be.
“…You know that BDSM is like raptors grinding their teeth! “Do you know how ferocious a man named Metal Joe is!”
“My eardrums are going to burst, bitch. “This is why I used to only use turrets without using people in the past.”
“Then why don’t you use a turret that listens well instead of us?”
“no. “Then I lost my mind.”
In Ian’s head, absurd assumptions began to fall into place one by one.
A voice full of cowardice and stubbornness.
=========
‘It’s me, those whalers-‘
‘Doing business with idiots with limbs-‘
‘Your skills are amazing-‘
=========
According to Auker’s words, prosthetics or A group of doctors with great prosthetic skills.
Ian also knew someone like that. An old man who was thought to be already dead, whose entire lower body was blown away and whose face was transformed into its current form.
As he stuck his head out of the alley with a trembling heart, a dazzling neon green cross illuminated his face.
“Holy Fucking Jesus….”
[moby-DICK]
[Woojin Urology]
[2nd Branch]
“Oh my God…. What a fucking miracle! Whaling! urology!”
When Ian appeared outside the alley, guns appeared from everywhere as if they had been waiting and were pointed at him, but Ian walked forward as if he could not see anything like that.
“Younggam…. Are you really the fucking inspiration?”
Ian took off his sunglasses as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.
An old man in a wheelchair. An old man with a face full of stubbornness and wrinkled skin, but with a firm look and elastic arms that looks as if he had just woken up in his youth.
In a wasteland where disappearance meant death, the death of an old man who had not been heard from for nearly six months was almost a foregone conclusion. Old Man Woojin , who thought that his hospital would have shared its fate when the Raptors took over Area 43
.
“It’s been a while, Chinjugari.”
“Are you alive?”
“No matter how much I thought about it, I didn’t think you would prepare my ancestral rites, so I survived a little longer.”
“Oh my….shit!”
Joy burst out in Ian’s heart like a torrent of joy, but what came out of his mouth was swearing.
The place where the legs of Old Man Woojin, who looked 10 years older than him, should have been was empty.
“Young man… what on earth are those bastards doing…”
“It’s what they always do. Come in. It’s been a while since I did some maintenance. “I also have a story to tell you.” Ian was
dumbfounded
for a long time, looking at the back of Woojin, who had gone inside. It was for a long time until he reflexively punched the man in the chin who was demanding to be disarmed.
****
