Chapter 56: Sabotage

Kyle deftly sidestepped the incoming punch before ducking as a sword swung horizontally over his head. With a quick counter swing of his hammer, he fractured the ribs of the first thug before swivelling around him and kicking him in the back, sending the first thug crashing into the other.

Three swings and an arrow came in straight at him, forcing Kyle to hop backwards, his speed faster than the average fighter, thanks to his increased DEX. The leader did not look surprised, simply ordering the thugs to corner Kyle even more. “Killing the Seven Snakes leader would be the biggest haul of our lives!”

Penchant for Violence!

A familiar surge of power rushed through Kyle’s body, strengthening his muscles and sharpening his vision. The world around him seemed to slow down even more, with his combat stats all doubled and improved. The stats reported to him via the statistic screen were not linear in effect, but a 100% increase was always welcome.

The movements of the thugs were in slow-motion to him, making it easy for Kyle to parry the incoming strikes. To the cowering Guang Hwa, who was hiding at a safe distance, Kyle looked as though he was moving extremely fast, with ungodly reaction speeds. The sight burnt the strength of Kyle even more into Guang Hwa. Fuck! I just had to be enslaved by such a monster!

The increase in combat strength and speed caught the leader off-guard. Before he could even reorganise the thugs, already half of his dozen-strong squad was already dead, killed in one hammer blow by Kyle.

[System Message]

Killed [Hired Mercenary ], +100 EXP

What? They give 100 EXP? Kyle had expected a low amount of EXP – when he first killed a Red Lion Thug, it was a mere 10 EXP.

A sinister grin began to spread on his face as he twirled the hammer by its handle in his right hand, staring right at the leader. “Shit! Hold him off! I’ll finish the job!”

“Yes, si-“ Just as the thugs steeled themselves for their eventual demise, it came faster than expected in the form of Kyle’s lunging strike, dancing through the remaining five thugs and killing all of them in a swift motion even before the leader could move three steps.

“Damn you!” The leader pulled out a blunderbuss from his back, blasting it right at Kyle. The projectile defence vambrace Kyle had activated, but it was not enough to block the multiple pellets, with half of them making it through to hit Kyle right in the chest.

“I got you now!” The leader roared, drawing his sword and stabbing at Kyle.

However, Kyle was not hurt at all, the breastplate underneath blocking the rest of the shots as he dodged the stab, spinning around before delivering a straight direct kick at the leader’s head, knocking him down onto the ground.

“Wait, I’m just a hired-“ Words no longer came out of the gurgling mouth of the leader; his throat snapped cleanly in half by a single stomp of Kyle’s foot.

[System Message]

Killed [Hired Mercenary Leader], +250 EXP

[SYSTEM MESSAGE]

Level Up!

Level 15 ---> Level 16

As such, upper society was split on which model to follow. With Sebastian’s new shopping arcade, the ardent supporters of the class hierarchy finally had something to back. Sebastian had no shortage of investors who wanted to establish a limited shopping arcade tailored to the wealthy. The notion was not unique at all.

“And without further ado, we shall now open the new shopping arcade! Enjoy the luxuries we have to your heart’s content!”

Unlike the surging crowd that tried to force their way in during the Seven Snakes opening day, the crowd here were a lot more mannered, entering in an orderly fashion. Sebastian spotted a familiar face in the throng of people, causing him to smile as he made his way over.

“I did not expect you to actually accept the invitation.”

“A senior must always support his junior, is that not the case?”

“You don’t seem particularly surprised at the construction of this shopping arcade.”

“Of course, the innovations I have implemented are hardly cutting-edge. Even a layman could make his own, given the right understanding. It was only a matter of time.”

“Well then, as thanks for your warning, I would like to inform you that your innovations are out on the black market for everyone to see. I could give you the name of the dealer who has been leaking them.” Sebastian said with a tinge of glee in his voice as he watched Kyle’s face turn into anger. “Perhaps even now, other businesses in other Sectors are buying the information right now.”

Kyle looked furious. “Thank you for the tip. I wish you only the best for the rest of your opening day.” He stormed off, not bothering to enter the shopping arcade.

Most likely, he is going to perform a purge of the Seven Snakes. Sebastian himself did not know who was the one who leaked the information, only that he had bought it from the dealer as the middleman. He gloated to himself, walking into the shopping arcade guarded by two Ardent Cretin bodyguards, watching the attendees visit the countless shops.

The first hour was truly a success, with the temperature control engravings cooling the air within the corridors and shops while extravagant lighting awed the customers. Sebastian had only invited the very best that the South Sector had to offer – beauty products, fashion, and jewellery were all on display here.

“Sir? Sir... You are needed at the main control office.” An Ardent Cretin quickly whispered to Sebastian. Sebastian quickly followed the man, entering an office on the top floor with a dozen engineers all arguing with each other.

“What’s the matter? What’s going on?”

“Sir, it’s hard to explain, but our estimates of the arcite fuel consumption are off by a slight margin.”

Sebastian narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

“The temperature control engravings, the efficiency is much lower than expected.”

“How much are we talking about.”

“It’s not much, but..”

“Tell me the numbers.”

“The efficiency is only about 70% at best.”

“Did we not estimate at least 80% efficiency?”

“Yes, but...”

At that moment, another engineer burst in through the office door. “Sebastian, sir! The lights are flickering! I think the lighting engravings are overheating!”

“Turn off a few of them to alleviate the strain. All of you, keep working on improving the design. Surely the twelve of you can beat an old university professor, can’t you?”

“Uh... yes, sir.”

Sebastian wasted no time, heading up to the duplicated light thrower theatre’s projector room, which had more than five employees scrambling inside preparing for the debut show. “Are you sure you’ve tested the light thrower?”

“Yes, sir, we did a test run yesterday with a sample film. It ran smoothly for a good fifteen minutes.”

“Try it now.”

“Sir?”

“Try it now!”

The employee hastily activated the light thrower, projecting the sample film on the theatre screen. Not after a minute the image began to flicker, and sounds of hissing sparks could be heard inside the light-thrower machine.

Sebastian immediately assumed it was a failsafe implemented by Sliver Snakes Productions, quickly opening up a side panel of the light thrower and inspecting it. Already he could see the traces on the engraving slightly warping, resulting in the weird behaviour.

“Cancel the light-thrower show.”

“But sir, that’s the main attraction of the –“

“CANCEL IT NOW!” Sebastian roared, prompting the employees to quickly scamper out of the room, spreading the order to the others. That fucking slimy dealer - charging me for more than twenty million rakels for this sham?! I will find him and kill him!