Destiny in Cinders

"Sixty percent of the new price my ass! You'd be lucky to get thirty percent for it!" Metalhand waved An Jing off. "One look and I can tell that you're not used to haggling. That price is more or less right. I won't make a sucker out of you, don't worry."

"But I really haven't used it before!"

"That's obvious enough. These things suck up much more qi than is safe for a budding cultivator like you. Someone in Spirit Awakening like you can barely activate it. It looks like a small unit from Luofu got wiped out in the wilderness and you were just lucky enough to happen upon their corpses."

Metalhand rubbed his temples in thought before he went to the storeroom to take out two guns. "The Iceburst Beta rifle uses special bullets and fires extremely stable shots. Once the bullet hits, the wound freezes over. It also barely makes a sound while firing, which is perfect for hunting sensitive prey. This other one is the Hawkeye Type 3 sword case. You can shoot long distances with it, optionally remotely, and even adjust the trajectory. Essentially, it's like a drone. However, it consumes a lot of energy.

"I have a rough idea what you want them for. You want to hunt three-legged flamecrows, right? The expedition bureau's missions are tempting indeed. They're offering fifty merits for one flamecrow. Even I'm feeling like hunting down one or two, but going to the badlands is far too risky. I treasure my life, you see.

"Either way, this rifle and sword case fit your requirements. However, your OverSight sword case would crush these two in comparison."

"Is that so?" An Jing made a mental note of the reward for hunting three-legged flamecrows. He was glad that Metalhand assumed the reason he wanted to buy weapons, relieving him of the need to make up an explanation.

When he had learned that the spirit-beam guns were actually called sword cases, he almost did a double take. Sword cases were real? Wait, no. You guys just applied the label of flying swords and sword cases to one type of gun that you use!

He observed the guns in his hand carefully. Iceburst Beta appeared just like any traditional rifle with some special sights. It glowed slightly as a proper artifact would. The Hawkweye sword case, on the other hand, was almost identical to the sword cases he had foraged from the ruins in the cave, just smaller. It had metallic rails that seemed to accelerate the projectile and a white-jade crystal at its center. It also came with three sword-shaped projectiles.

Oh, so those corroded tiny daggers on those corpses were projectiles that were shot out of sword cases! Sword cases worked based on simple principles. Two metallic rails accelerated the tiny sword projectiles, while the white-jade crystal at the center was the core that powered the acceleration and also served as the control mechanism for the projectile's trajectory.

While sword cases could still fire sword beams even when they weren't loaded with specially made projectiles, the very same spirit beams An Jing had seen, they worked best with proper projectiles. Essentially, sword cases were more railgun than firearm.

"I'm not lying either. The Hawkeye series are basically copies of the OverSight series. The latter's military-grade core is much better than the Hawkeye's in all regards. If you have the means, you should get a spirit-qi crucible to power the OverSight. That way, you won't even have to buy these guns from me."

Metalhand looked at the OverSight sword case in An Jing's hand with an intense expression. An Jing could guess what he wanted and said, "Obviously, it's not that easy, right? if I have to buy a crucible just to use it, the rest will be even more troublesome. It's a military-issue sword case, so it definitely comes with a custom operating system that a chipless badlander like me can't use, right?"

Metalhand laughed. "You can use it as long as you're able to crack it." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

The older man proceeded to explain some basic concepts to An Jing on account of him being a badlander. Lots of equipment in Skysource, complex ones like sword cases, in particular, could only be used with the right authorization. Unauthorized users would simply be locked out of them, so stolen equipment couldn't be used immediately.

Locks opened if they were cracked.[1] Apart from cracks, spirit usurpation could be used to deal with authorization issues. It was a spirit-based technique that cost much more, but was safe and didn't risk triggering the self-destruct mechanism of a piece of equipment in the event of a failed crack.

Metalhand naturally wouldn't know how to perform spirit usurpation. He was a law-abiding businessman who would at most do a couple cracks here and there. It just so happened that he was really interested in An Jing's OverSight.

Metalhand rapped his fingers on the counter in thought. "How about this? Since you saved Qing, I will crack the OverSight for you at no cost. Just leave it with me for one day."

"That sounds too good to be true... You must stand to gain quite a bit from this too."

Metalhand didn't answer his doubts directly. "It isn't every day that I get a chance to take a crack at military-grade cores. Even then, other people might not dare to do it if they had the chance. Let me be frank here. There are only five people in the entirety of Mortality Plains that are able and willing to crack equipment from the Luofu Group, and I'm one of them."

An Jing's lips curled into a smile. "How about this? Since you're so amazing, Boss, can I just trade this sword case in exchange for the Hawkeye and the Iceburst? It's a steal, right?"

"Haha. I'm no badlander, so I don't have any legitimate explanation of how I came across military-issue equipment. If someone like me is seen using something like this without proper authorization, I'd get a one-way ticket to prison. Not to mention, your sword case is rather old. I'll crack it for you and do some restoration on it for no cost."

An Jing could tell that Metalhand really was doing him a favor, and not just to repay him for saving Huo Qing. He genuinely did like him. Was it because of his power, or did the old man see something in him that he had unintentionally revealed? Or was it due to his celestial arc's influence? He shook his head and dispelled those thoughts.

He was also certain that Metalhand was genuinely interested in the Luofu Group's products, most likely due to the military-grade core. He must also have some other personal reason that drove him to want to try his hand at cracking it. Perhaps he had plans that required access to a military interface.

"Fine," An Jing agreed. "But I also need a whole set of flying-sword projectiles, spare parts and some other supplies."

An Jing got another spark of inspiration. "Also, if you have drones, I want to buy some too."

The Iceburst and its accessories, scope and compatible bullets, were worth 145 merits. The Hawkeye and other associated parts were worth 175. A spirit-qi crucible would cost around 150 merits at least, while better ones were worth 320.

Since An Jing wasn't chipped, he had to use physical merit bills. Metalhand used this as yet another reason to place a surcharge on him. "You don't have a chip, so there's a fee for processing cash. Though you have many spoils, I can only offer you 850 merits for them, and that's taking into consideration how you helped Qing."

At that amount, An Jing would have more to spare after buying the weapons, accessories and spirit-qi crucible as well as food supplies. An Jing knew, however, that he was going to need far more than that. A world that could produce remotely operated sword cases could surely produce drones too, which would give him an edge at scouting in Void Embrace.

"I don't have drones. I can give you bullets and supplies since they're cheap. However, drones are relatively more technologically advanced. I'm not authorized to deal with them. In fact, there are only three companies in the city that are allowed to legally sell drones."

"Legally?" An Jing picked up on the operative word.

"That's right, legally. Badlanders like you won't even be allowed into cities, let alone buy useful drones. However, there's the black market..."

1. A phrase inspired by the famous meme "people die if they are killed." The author also has a different work titled "Monsters Die If They Are Killed" that references the same meme. ☜