Chapter 75
There were numerous Junk Towns in the Wasteland.
Among them, Max’s party’s target, Oil Sink, was a place that was somewhere in the middle in terms of size and military strength.
“Oppa. How are we going to get inside?”
“Hmm, a lot of things come to mind, but I’m debating. Honestly, clearing everything from the entrance isn’t a wrong approach either. Still, just in case, I want to check the internal structure and see if there are any forces other than the Valve Family.”
Flora nodded in the direction Max was following.
“And there’s also the possibility that Salazar might be absent. If we push through the entrance while he’s not around, he might hear the news and run away.”
“It’s exactly as Flora said. You’re smart, as expected.”
Max offered a sincere compliment and carefully observed Junk Town.
Unlike the wide-open Nomad Village, it was surrounded by walls made of rusted iron plates, primarily obscuring the view within.
And the water tanks, generators, complex piping, and neon-lit signs visible through the entrance proved that they had built their own little society inside.
“Oppa. Let’s just walk in confidently for now. If you look at the people wandering around inside, there’s not much difference in how they dress. If you look over there, the guards are just playing among themselves too.”
“That’s one method too. The problem is that we hid the car and have to enter on foot, but there’s no one else doing that.”
Those going in and out of the Junk Town entrance were riding motorcycles or trucks. There was no one entering or exiting on foot.
It seemed like vehicles were passing through freely, but if they weren’t familiar to the guards, they would definitely be caught.
‘Then we’ll have to steal one.’
Max’s party waited behind the rock for a long time.
Then, an SUV that had come out of Junk Town drove toward the side close to Max’s party.
The Driver was a man with a mohawk. He had one arm sticking out of the Driver’s seat and a cigarette in his mouth.
Vrooom──.
Max sharply turned the steering wheel and forcefully stepped on the accelerator.
“Hmm?”
While the Driver panicked at the steering wheel that wouldn’t turn and the brake that wouldn’t press, Psychokinesis snapped his neck just like that.
─Crack! The vehicle carrying the corpse stopped in front of Max’s party.
He at once flipped the dirt ground with Psychokinesis to hide the corpse and boarded the car.
With the two people on board, Max turned the front of the car and requested something.
“We have to be careful from now on. If we happen to get caught, a battle will break out immediately without any time to explore the inside.”
The vehicle made a wide turn and headed for the entrance of Junk Town.
The ones who looked like guards were still busy chatting among themselves.
“Once we get inside safely, the situation will constantly require improvisation. Just think of it as riding the flow I create.”
“Yeah. I’ll just trust you, Oppa.”
“Okay! The flow, right!”
Having passed the entrance without issue, the three smoothly slipped into the Junk Town.
They roughly abandoned the car in a secluded corner and they walked through the Junk Town.
Flora and Ellen were busy looking around and observing the Junk Town, which was grander and deeper than it looked from the outside.
Of course, Max shared the same sentiment.
‘It’s bigger than I thought.’
It was definitely not as big as a single district in Haze. It probably wasn’t even a quarter of the size.
Still, it possessed the majesty of a nest where hundreds of people lived.
“Hmm?”
A group caught Max’s eye as he looked around the inside.
The ones who were placing their guns ostentatiously on the table in front of a store and piling up liquor bottles.
‘The Valve Family. Salazar’s lackeys.’
Recognizing them was purely thanks to the facial photos and physical characteristics in Domingo’s data.
The guy who had painted only the middle finger of his prosthetic arm pink stood out in particular.
“His name is Roach.”
That guy was worth using.
He was suffering from severe memory errors due to alcoholism and drug abuse.
“Alright, let’s go.”
Max slung his arms over Flora’s and Ellen’s shoulders and tucked them against his sides. He pulled them toward his body as if they were his possessions.
“O-Oppa?!”
“Eek!”
The two cried out in panic, but they tactfully suppressed their emotions and forced calm expressions.
Max put on a swaggering walk and approached the Valve Family.
“Roach! Where is Salazar?”
At the sight of a stranger looking abruptly for the Ruler of Oil Sink, they all exchanged glances.
“Roach. Who is that?”
“He’s calling the Godfather’s name?”
Roach, whose name was called, made a perplexed face at the curiosity shown by his surrounding comrades and a Person he had no prior acquaintance with. He scratched his head with his pink-painted middle finger.
Knowing how ruined his own mind was from alcohol and drugs, he couldn’t even readily ask who it was.
Is it really a Person I’m seeing for the first time? Seeing that he knows my name, did I forget again?
The doubt that for a very long time had been eating away at his mind and dominating his very being bloomed once again.
“Who…?”
“This is the second time you’re asking for my name. I thought I told you I wouldn’t let it slide if you forgot one more time.”
There was a high-handed attitude, accompanied by a sigh.
Roach glanced at the women the other party had tucked on both sides, then tactfully spat out honorifics.
“My head is ruined, so my memory is a bit… Haha! You know how it is. If you tell me just one more time, these guys will remember it instead!”
Roach requested of the Family he was with, and Max deliberated.
How should he express that he came to settle the price for coveting MegaCorp’s information in a way that was dignified and elegant?
He confidently spat out the word that came to mind momentarily.
“Enforcer.”
At the word they heard for the first time, the Valve Family subordinates looked at each other in confusion and murmured.
“What’s an Enforcer?”
“I don’t know what it is, but it sounds impressive.”
“Wasn’t the Enforcer the name of the guy who collects organs?”
“You retard. That bastard is Zato.”
Before they could dig deeper by pointlessly asking for a name, Max urged Roach.
“Roach, so what about Salazar?”
“The Godfather is meeting an important Customer right now, so…”
The fact that someone was there was excellent information. It was a good thing he hadn’t attacked recklessly.
“Is he still there? He wouldn’t have gone somewhere else just to meet a Customer.”
Max didn’t know where 'there' was. It was just a question of finding out where he was.
Roach sent his gaze to the building located in the center of Junk Town.
“The Godfather should be in the spot he’s always at. But Mr. Enforcer, is Enforcer your name?”
“Take it easy on the drugs. And drink the good liquor.”
Max pulled out a hefty amount of credits and placed them on the table to prevent any more idle chatter.
Leaving behind Salazar’s subordinates, who forgot their questions and cheered at the wad of cash, Max’s party headed to the building that Roach had pointed out.
“Oppa. He said there’s a Customer who came to meet Salazar. Are you still going to go in?”
“That’s the problem. Even if there are customers, there’s a high probability they’ll back off on their own if we say we came from a Corporation to deal with Salazar, but…”
“It seems like your guess is right, even to me, Oppa. We don’t even know when the meeting with those so-called customers will end. They might even stay here for a while.”
Furthermore, if Roach’s group from earlier ran into other persons from the same Family, they might start getting suspicious while talking.
What should they do?
Max exchanged opinions with his party and began digging into the Customer’s identity.
* * *
The Ruler of Oil Sink.
The Godfather of the Valve Family, Salazar, was currently forming an alliance with the Ruler of another Junk Town.
The target of the alliance was the Ruler of the Junk Town Red Mile and the Leader of the Carter Gang, Byron Carter.
A 5th-Tier Person like Salazar had brought a small elite group to Oil Sink for the agreement.
“Can you then supply the specified items at the stated price? If you’re satisfied and just stamp your thumbprint, the contract is signed.”
Byron handed Salazar the contract with the details recorded.
Although the Wasteland was practically lawless, the inhabitants solidified their promises by stamping their thumbprints and sharing the data with the rulers of each Junk Town.
If the contents were not kept, no complaints could be raised even if the rulers of other Junk Towns invaded and plundered them.
“Hmm.”
Salazar double-checked the contract with a cigar in his mouth.
Byron tasted the liquor placed on the table and observed Salazar.
‘He’s gotten even bigger in just a few months.’
Salazar possessed massive muscles that ignored all balance.
Above his hypertrophied pectorals sat a tattoo symbolizing his days as a Soldier in Newman, and on his back, Cyberware connected to his central nervous system was installed.
Above all, Salazar’s trademark was his golden prosthetic arm and the chainsaw inserted into it. As far as Byron knew, it was a fairly outstanding model.
“Good. Let’s notify everyone and wrap this up.”
Salazar stamped his thumbprint on the two contracts.
Before any other words could come out, Byron had a subordinate with a scanning prosthetic eye share the data immediately. The data was passed on to each Ruler of the Junk Towns. Now, there was no turning back.
Having concluded the deal with satisfactory terms, Byron habitually rubbed his bald head.
The corners of his mouth rose and fixed in place with the certainty that he had made a huge profit.
“To think that Salazar would propose an alliance - I guess I know what they mean when they say even stubborn humans change as time passes.”
In fact, when one looked strictly at the contents, it was as if Salazar had come under Byron.
As time passed, the Carter Gang would hold the leash on Oil Sink’s finances.
Protecting the Valve Family according to Salazar’s demands was nothing.
The Valve Family wasn’t weak in the first place.
Even a Junk Town occupying the upper ranks of military strength wouldn’t want to make enemies of both Salazar and itself at the same time. This contract was a significant factor, and Byron also benefited from it.
“As I get older, it’s not easy to sleep peacefully when there’s friction. Even if I have to give up some money, I want to gain a reliable friend.”
“Hahaha! Of course, let’s get along well from now on.”
Byron laughed heartily and bit into the cigar Salazar handed him.
He was about to light it with a lighter.
─Boom! The door flew off with a loud crash.
Step. Step. Step.
One man and two women walked in. The Guard who had been stationed at the entrance had collapsed with his neck twisted.
The man standing one step ahead captured Salazar in his sight.
“Salazar.”
“Hmm… Did you come from a Corporation? Perfect timing.”
“Yeah. I’ll let the Customer go.”
At the mention of coming from a Corporation, Byron and his close aides murmured.
But Salazar was relaxed because MegaCorp hadn’t sent a Grim Reaper that was impossible to even resist.
Salazar lit Byron’s cigar again and rolled his neck, preparing for battle.
“Byron, it’s quite early, but I’ll take some help according to the contract.”
As Byron grasped the situation, heat rose to his bald head, turning his scalp red.
“This son of a bitch…!”
“You won’t break the contract, right? If you back out like this, your Junk Town will become a Wasteland.”
In Byron’s Junk Town, there were women he cherished.
And his life’s savings, classic vehicles that were like his own life, weapons, and even treasures were on such a grand scale that Rulers of other Junk Towns would covet Byron’s treasures and women, requesting exchanges.
Since Byron had rejected all trades, if an opportunity fell, he would jump in before even distinguishing the truth.
As Byron faced this self-evident fact, his mind spun. The resentment of being tricked by Salazar was a problem for later.
“If I consider the time it takes to return to Red Mile from here…”
Could he prevent other Junk Towns from invading Red Mile before he returned to his Junk Town and finished preparations to flee to a specific city?
If he fled, Salazar would use every means to inform the Rulers of his non-fulfillment of the contract.
Therefore, the answer was.
“…”
Silent gazes went back and forth in the room.
And the result was action.
BOOOOM!!!
A part of the building blew apart from the clash of power.