A cadre, a captain, and a small gang member.

A strange combination started drinking heavily in the tavern.

Su’en and the other two were drinking happily.

Suddenly, Sam and several members of the Cross Society rushed into the tavern in a panic, carrying heavy firearms.

They scanned the tavern and immediately spotted Kay sitting at a table.

Sam walked over with urgency in his eyes and said, “Captain, something bad happened! We heard that one of the troublemakers we dealt with earlier was the younger brother of a member of the ‘Steam Party.’ I received information that Kun Tu, the ‘Red Hair,’ is coming with a group of people and seems to be planning to cause trouble for us! Captain, we need to gather our brothers quickly…”

Sam spoke in a long string of words, almost out of breath.

Gang fights were normal, especially in territories where two gangs had contact.

Originally, this was an urgent matter.

The enemy was coming with great momentum, and the Cross Society would definitely gather their brothers. They might not necessarily engage in a full-blown fight, but they wouldn’t let the enemy have the advantage in numbers.

However, after Sam finished speaking, he noticed that the atmosphere at the table was strange.

Normally, the captain should have slammed the table and started rallying the troops, right?

But… Kay seemed calm.

He even picked up his drink and leisurely took a sip before sneering, “Younger brother? Heh… It seems like those ‘Steam Party’ guys are deliberately looking for an excuse to start a war.”

Su’en remained silent and glanced at the gambling addict next to him.

In other circumstances, he might have been worried about his own safety.

But now…

Qiantiao had her back to the entrance of the tavern, and Sam and the others were so focused on finding Kay that they didn’t notice the woman at the table seemed familiar.

Now that the atmosphere seemed off, they finally recognized the woman with the large tattooed arm as Qiantiao.

“Qiantiao?” Sam and the others exclaimed in surprise.

Qiantiao raised her glass and took a sip, lazily asking, “What’s going on?”

“Well, the ‘Steam Party’…” Sam was about to repeat the previous situation, but when he saw Qiantiao’s uninterested expression, he quickly changed his tone and said, “Ah, you’re here, so there’s no problem.”

Everyone: “…”

Not long after, the sound of motorcycles roared outside the door as the notorious “Biker Gang” of the Steam Brotherhood arrived on Green Street.

Su’en looked at the modified steam-powered Harley motorcycles outside the door, feeling a bit envious. It couldn’t be denied that the Steam Party had superior mechanical modification technology in the outer city.

More than twenty people with mechanical prosthetics and long guns and short cannons rushed into the “Elephant Tavern” with great momentum, scaring the tavern’s customers away.

Judging from their posture, it was clear that they were here for revenge.

But what happened next was a dramatic scene.

The far-headed man with red hair saw Kay at the table and angrily raised his gun, shouting, “Kay, you…”

But before he could finish his sentence, he caught sight of the woman with the large tattooed arm on the table, and his face suddenly changed. The harsh words he was about to say got stuck in his throat and he swallowed them back.

Red Hair was quick on his feet as well. Without saying another word, he holstered his gun and turned to leave the tavern, as if he had taken the wrong path.

This scene left the tavern’s customers, who were unaware of the truth, confused.

But the members of the Cross Society burst into laughter and jeered, “Hahaha…”

Qiantiao ignored the departing Steam Brotherhood members. As a member of the Cross Society, she wouldn’t stoop so low as to cause trouble with a small gang leader from a rival faction.

After finishing their drinks, Qiantiao said to Kay, “Kay, be careful recently. The Steam Party guys are also eyeing Green Street. They won’t hesitate to make some moves…”

Kay nodded thoughtfully, “I understand, Qiantiao.”

In the world of gangs, it was always about fighting and killing.

From the moment they joined, they were prepared for it.

…….

The first day of joining the gang was eventful, but the following days returned to normal.

Every evening at seven o’clock, Kay would lead the new recruits on a half-hour patrol before disbanding.

The days were leisurely.

Even the Steam Party guys didn’t show up again after the incident at the Elephant Tavern.

The gambling addict, on the other hand, would always appear in the arena every night, dragging Su’en along to gamble.

But gambling was all about luck.

Even though Su’en had good luck, he couldn’t win every time.

Of course, he only gambled small amounts, so wins and losses were manageable.

But this gambling addict, when she won, she would lecture about the importance of stopping losses and taking profits…

But when she lost her temper, she didn’t care about any of that. She would increase her bets after losing once, and double them after losing again…

No amount of advice could stop her.

This kind of gambling behavior led to her winning over two million at first, but she squandered it all in just a few days.

This was the typical behavior of a gambling addict. When they won, they were intoxicated with wealth, but when they lost, they were destitute.

However, this gambling addict, despite her average winnings, had good character.

After losing everything, she didn’t borrow a single penny from Su’en or Kay, only relying on them for food and drink.

Su’en had to go to the arena every day to collect soul fragments, so he could only accompany her in gambling. As a result, they became quite familiar with each other.

Qiantiao didn’t have the airs of a big sister, and they were more like drinking buddies.

It was no wonder she had a good relationship with the gang members.

A few days later, Qiantiao lost all her savings and reluctantly returned home. She planned to earn money by doing gang tasks and agreed to gamble with Su’en another day.

Su’en bid farewell to this influential gang member, and his own life returned to normal.

Every night, he would stay in the arena until dawn, then find a hotel to meditate, practice puppetry techniques, and read alchemy books…

The days were regular and leisurely, harvesting soul fragments every day, practicing professional skills, and rapidly gaining experience.

The arena had eight to ten corpses every day, and occasionally there were professional gladiator matches.

In just a few days, he had acquired a variety of strange abilities, such as “Lip Reading,” “Dart Throwing,” “Motorcycle Riding,” and “Gwent Card Skills”…

A mix of various skills, he had them all.

However, he gradually discovered a problem.

After his firearm and combat skills reached a certain level, he started gaining less experience from the corpses.

Later, he realized that as he approached the level of “Advanced Firearms Mastery,” he naturally couldn’t learn much from a “Basic Mastery” corpse.

Although he could learn from others’ strengths to make up for his weaknesses, it wasn’t much.

Fortunately, there was no risk, and every little bit counts.

During this time, Su’en visited the black market a few times but couldn’t find the ideal blueprint for his implants. However, he heard that there would be a high-quality auction held by the black market in a few days, where many good items would appear as hunters and thieves gathered to sell their goods.

He planned to try his luck then.

…….

On this day, in the hotel room.

A gunshot rang out, causing the lime powder on the wall to fall.

It was unclear who had been shot.

Although he was used to it, Su’en’s arm instinctively trembled at the sound, causing the runic pen with blue paint in his hand to deviate from its intended path, leaving a glaring mark of failure on the puppet’s body.

“Another failure…”

Su’en looked at the puppet in front of him, which had been completely ruined by his painting, feeling a bitter helplessness.

Although he was usually focused and not easily distracted, he couldn’t ignore the frequent fights and gunshots in this noisy environment.

In the corridor of the cheap hotel, there were often drunken tenants fighting. In this world where everyone had a gun, physical fights almost always led to gunfights, which were always terrifying. Just yesterday, there was an incident in the room above Su’en’s, where a call girl and her accomplices conspired to shoot a mercenary. The ensuing chaos almost hit Su’en downstairs.

“It’s really difficult to find a suitable place to live…”

Su’en sighed softly, feeling tired of this harsh noise environment.

He wanted to find a place with soundproofing, quietness, and preferably a shooting range.

As a puppeteer, a rare profession, he could hardly learn relevant skills from gladiators in the arena. He could only practice diligently. Enchanting and carving were much more difficult than he had expected, requiring a quiet environment and a lot of time to practice.

Since he had already been disturbed, Su’en didn’t dwell on the sound of gunshots.

He looked at the ruined puppet in front of him and turned his gaze. Just then, he suddenly bent his fingers, as if grabbing an invisible object. The puppet stood up strangely.

It was only half a meter tall, like a toddler taking its first steps, and it started moving around the room.

The sound of wooden joints rubbing against each other, “click, click,” was somewhat eerie.

Su’en stood still, his fingers moving rapidly like playing the piano, and the puppet followed suit, making various movements. Although it still looked stiff, it could perform some combat actions like punching, kicking, rolling, and stabbing.

After practicing manipulation for a while, Su’en felt his finger muscles stiffening and stopped.

“Phew…”

He let out a long breath.

Looking at the steel wires entwined between his fingers, Su’en shook his head slightly and muttered, “The wires are not thin enough or tough enough, and the maneuverability is too low… It’s really not easy to find the right thread material.”

This was the most suitable material he could find to control the puppets, but it still fell short.

He thought of the scene in the mansion ruins where Pestoya controlled dozens of puppets with threads, effortlessly restraining the bald Ivan.

Controlling threads, but the effects were vastly different.

The unfinished puppet lacked the right steel wire, and the manipulation skills were still unfamiliar…

As a novice “puppeteer,” he still had a long way to go to form combat power with puppets.

But Su’en had a good mindset. To achieve this level in just a few days, he felt that his progress was not bad.

There were still several hours before work, and Su’en originally planned to continue practicing puppet manipulation.

But just then, he received a call from Kay on the communicator, “All new recruits, gather at the usual place. We have a distortion mission.”

Su’en didn’t dare to delay, checked his equipment and ammunition, and walked out of the room.

……..

Shortly after the gathering message was sent, Kun Tu, the “Red Hair” of the Steam Party, quietly infiltrated the vicinity of Green Street with a group of people.

A mysterious voice came through the communicator, “Captain Kun Tu, it has been confirmed that Kay and a group of new recruits, about twenty people, have gone to the Tube Building.”