“What was that you said we talk about?” Stoner asked.

“I want to buy your trash so I could sell it somewhere.” Marcus replied as he approached the counter.

“If you’re you’re needing money that bad to want to buy my empty beer cans, I can give them to you for free.” He chuckled.

“It’s not that. I found a place where they’re hurting to find good guns, but for the moment, I need to get some trigger parts to tide them through. So what I was thinking was to sift through your junked guns, take off parts and sell it to them since it will be an improvement to what they have at the moment.”

“What? You found some primitive tribe outside the ship?”

Marcus shrugged. “Something like that.”

Stoner looked far away as he mulled over it. Marcus knew he could be helping potential enemies in the off chance that the goblins living in the underground station turned out to be belligerent. It was one of the main reasons Marcus kept it vague, both to keep Stoner a layer of detachment from the potential crime.

“I can give you everything you want, given that I get to take a bite off it.”

Marcus nodded, hiding his smile. “No problem. How do you want to go about it?”

“I usually pull out major parts off the damaged guns if they look like they could be reused. Sometimes I couldn’t be bothered salvaging parts and I just lump them together with the ones beyond saving. I then sell them to the foundry for 500c per kilo of steel. As long as you take the parts yourself, I can give them to you for 1000c for every kilo of parts.”

“Looks good. Lets go take a look,” Marcus replied. Following Stoner inside the shop, he couldn’t help but feel giddy at the deal. It was a steal. As long as he shied away from heavier parts, like barrels, it would take a lot of small parts to add up to a full kilogram.

Attention!

Through multiple actions, you are qualified to receive:

Negotiation (Skill)

Increased chance of better outcomes when negotiating NPCs

Slots available: 2/6 Would you like to take the skill?

[Y/N]

Even with the short text, it was not a hard decision. Marcus accepted.

Marcus found the corner where the written off guns were kept. Looking inside the crate, he looked over the pile that filled it to almost overflowing. They were burned, shot, cut and even bent. Whatever may have happened to them was a story on its own.

Marcus picked up an AK whose receiver was torn open in the side like a tin can. Its top cover was missing, its bolt carrier bent. The receiver was past the point of repair from the rent tracing vertically on it, but the springs were still intact, so was the trigger mechanism, which was all Marcus wanted.

Looking at the rest, most were well past the effort of repair. Most were stripped off their vital parts, but there were still enough left for Marcus to fill out what he needed. Given the already filled little boxes with small parts stacked on the side, Stoner didn’t look to be hurting on parts to care.

Marcus separated the small parts into little plastic bags. AK, and AR trigger assemblies were much easier for him to work on, given his previous experience with them. For other rifles, Marcus simply sent them to the bandsaw and cut the receiver and only taking triggers entirely.

Attention!

Through multiple actions, you are qualified to receive:

Gunsmithing (Skill)

Increases reliability, accuracy, and familiarity gain when repairing, modifying, and building guns.

Slots available: 3/6 Would you like to take the skill?

[Y/N]

Increases reliability, accuracy, and familiarity gain when repairing, modifying, and building guns.

With pistols, rifles, and negotiations taking up three slots, Marcus had three more slots available. Gunsmithing looked to be a wonderful skill to have, but wasn’t fitting for a player like Marcus. It would be better for Bo, him being a support type. He would likely benefit the most from it if he still had the slots.

With his haul of cut receivers, trigger packs and all the springs he could pull out of the guns, Marcus weighed everything on the scale with Stoner. He looked at the parts and shrugged, not even bothered. “If you have a friend who’s into gunsmithing and needs someone to teach him, I wouldn’t mind getting help around the shop.” He said.

“I’ll let him know. But no promises since he also has stuff going on.” Marcus replied.

“No problem.”

Charged shy of 2000c, Marcus was the proud owner of two kilograms worth of assorted parts. He paused. In the general store, he remembered the payment had gone through using Columbus’ chit, which only meant that the limitations of his PMs did not affect it. Also, with it, he could see the price of the materials he was being charged with.

“Hey Stoner, I need you to do me a favor. I can’t contact Columbus from where he is right now, but he could approve purchases made on his chit. I need you to price these bolts according to what I need.”

Stoner nodded. Marcus laid out bolts and screws across the table and priced them accordingly and charged them through Columbus’ chit; 3, 1, 14, 20, 6, 9, 12, 12, 12, 9, 19, 20, 14, 5, 5, 4, 3, 15, 14, 20, 18, 15, 12, 12, 5, 18, 19, 13, 9, 7, 8, 20, 14, 5, 5, 4, 20, 15, 6, 9, 14, 4, 9, 20, 13, 25, 19, 5, 12, 6. It translated using the alphabet arranged accordingly to; “Can’t fill list, need controllers, might need to find it myself.”

Marcus waited, hoping that Columbus would understand the simple code, and was relieved as he started receiving money transfers back. It corresponded to the 26 letters code. After pulling them together, Marcus got his orders. He then packed the parts into his pack, thanked Stoner and went for the bar.

There were two bars on the ship, one on the lower level, and one in the upper in the middle of the market. The lower bar was where Marcus had to go, The Smoking barrels. The sign in front showed the six barrels of a minigun, all smoking as it pointed into the sky over a mountain of spent casings.

The shouts and sounds of conversation leaked out into the halls. Players talked about their adventures and fights outside with each other, boasting about their loot and kills.

Marcus stepped inside and sat by the stool on the bar. The bartender looked at him, nodding while he polished a crystal in his hands with a rag. “Name your poison.”

“Whiskey. Straight. The one you keep in the oak barrels.”

“We don’t use wooden barrels anymore, boss.”

“Really? A friend told me you do. Give me what you have then, on the rocks.”

The bartender nodded and laid a lowball on the bar. He then filled it with large chunks of ice and poured the whiskey bottle he took off the shelf. “My own personal batch. What do you think?”

Marcus took a sip. The hard liquor travelled down his throat and settled on his stomach like a warm glow. “Ambrosia.” He sighed.

The exchange finished, the bartender excused himself to the back. Marcus waited, continuing to sip at his drink. He had followed every step and mentioned all the required words. If all went well, he’ll have access to the same broker Columbus used when preparing for their expedition.

The bartender came back holding a sat phone, “It’s for you.” He said, laying it on the bar.

Marcus sipped his drink and picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“How may I help you?” a garbled electronic voice on the other end asked.

“I need a dozen industrial rated controllers. Can you help me?”

“I can help everyone, for a price.” The voice said, followed by the bartender putting a reader in the bar. Marcus fished out Columbus’ chit from his vest and swiped it. He watched at the pending notification shown on the display. It read 30,000c and Marcus almost choked on his drink as he saw the price.

“You will have you dozen controllers by tomorrow. Come back to this location exactly 12 noon.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” Marcus replied.

“We don’t fail.” The voice said. “You’ll have it then.”

Marcus nodded and finished his drink. He left the bar shortly and went up to the higher levels. With his list completed and only awaiting pickup, Marcus exited the elevators to the bustling upper market.

He followed the scent of burning meat. Now, it’s time for the next order on the list.

The old lady looked up as Marcus approached and gave a friendly smile. “Its been a while, young man.” She greeted. “Glad to see you back.”

“Glad to be back,” Marcus replied, taking a stool to the side. “Give my usual.”

“Coming up.”

“Actually, can you brew a tea for me? I found this where I went and thought I’d share it with you.” Marcus said, taking out the wrapped package Bo handed to him before he set out of the station. It was the same tea the Goblins chief served in his dwelling. With the buffs, Marcus was sure it would attract the attention of players looking for any edge they could get over the other.

The old lady looked at the packet and took a sniff. With a quizzical gaze, she warmed up a kettle and measured the brown powdered mushrooms into a cloth bag using a spoon. “I have to say, I never heard about mushroom tea.” She said, putting the cloth bag into the kettle of boiling water and let it settle.

“I think It’s pretty good.” Marcus replied. “I’m sure you can always have more selection in your drink department.”

“Oh? Is this what I think it is then, young man?” She asked, pouring the kettle into a couple of cups. Marcus took his cup while she sipped on hers and gave an approving hum.

Attention! Mushroom tea (excellent)

Brewed from the goblin’s prized mushroom tea, it's grown deep within their most productive tunnels using techniques and processes that are closely guarded.

.8x stamina consumption rate (240 mins)

“Unique isn’t it? It has that aftertaste that might put people off, but could easily be developed into an acquired taste.” Marcus said.

She took another sip. “Depends. Men here usually prefer beer to drink instead, but this could be a pick me up for people looking for something milder than coffee. Though a bit bitter for my taste, its nothing that could be fixed with a drop of sugar.”

The meat finished cooking, and the old lady served Marcus his well-deserved meal. After a few days of eating dry and crumbly rations, it only made him yearn for the juicy meat even more.

Marcus finished his meal in no time and the old lady started wrapping the tea packet to hand it back. “No, keep it.” Marcus grinned. “First taste is free. Make sure to share it around.”

She looked back at the packet and gingerly laid it back on the table. She grinned back, “Whenever I hear first taste is free, it comes from dealers pushing drugs.”

“I don’t know, maybe it’s just as addictive as any other drug.” Marcus replied, smiling. He then stood up to leave and made to pay only for the old lady to wave it off. “I’ll have more of these in one or two days.”

“Expect 2000c easily.” She replied, which surprised Marcus. It seemed like he had found his cash crop. “Give me two days to get a feel for the demand of your tea. I’ll give you a more accurate price then.”

“Be seeing you then.” Marcus replied.