37 Resource Gathering (1/2)

Ed walked out onto the street. It was a bright and early morning. Crowds of people were already heading in all directions as they went about their busy lives.

'I need to make new arms before the ceremony. It's fine if they're incomplete. I can always finish them later.' He asked some locals and found the location of a scrap yard on the edge of the city. He had to take a steam bus to get there due to the distance.

'They'll probably want to charge me an arm and a leg for the metals I want. I'll just sneak in and take it.' He chuckled to himself at the idea of paying an arm and leg for goods. He was one of the few people in the world that could do so. He could always just make more after all.

The scrap yard was surrounded by a tall and rusty iron fence. He walked away from the main entrance and melted a hole in the fence. He stepped through and began to look around. Most of the scrap appeared to be abandoned steam wagon parts. There were also a lot of construction materials such as wood and cables. Last was appliances. There were literal mountains of abandoned home appliances such as gas stoves.

He looked around for better materials with no luck. 'Oh well.' He sighed. He settled on using the better steel parts from the various steam wagons. His control of his powers had continuously grown greater over the past few months. It only took him an hour to remake the complex version of his limbs.

He shrugged his shoulders and began moving his new arms. The steel appeared duller in color that what he usually used. 'Mm. This should work. I'll add muscles later when I leave Georgia. It feels weird moving them with mana again. Next, I need to get some mana powders.'

He left the scrap yard and headed back to the city. He had to ask the locals where the bad parts of town were. He frowned when he got the information he wanted. 'There are no sinner groups in all of Macon Georgia? How?! I need to steal the powder off them, damnit.' He continued asking around and discovered that there had been a large-scale operation several months ago by the Hunter Association. Macon had been one of the most dangerous cities in Georgia due to the large number of sinner groups. The hunters wiped them all clean and no new groups had managed to form yet.

He sighed while crossing his new arms and leaning against a wall. Occasional passersby glanced at him with curiosity. Perhaps because he now had metal arms on display or possibly because they recognized him from the flier. He tapped his arm with his index finger repeatedly and closed his eyes as he thought. 'There may be enough time to go to another city, but it isn't preferable. The railways should be overloaded since the people of Atlanta have scattered everywhere. There will also be large crowds coming into the city for the ceremony, which may make it hard to get back into the city by railway.' He opened his eyes and glanced up at the city walls. 'I could probably fly back in, but I'd no doubt be attacked as an intruder as a result. Who else would have mana-powder in Macon? Hunters probably, but I don't want to deal with them. Plus it would be illegal for them to sell it to me. That just leaves...'

His eyes sharpened as a small grin appeared. He began to walk back towards the hotel district. He passed his current hotel and returned to the one he had first visited last night. He ducked into a nearby alleyway before heading inside. He looked around before spotting some abandoned plywood. 'That'll do for now.' He grabbed the wood and molded it into a crude mask to cover his face. He frowned. 'I'm still wearing the hospital gown. Too obvious.' He molded it as well. Some nearby dirt flew into the blue gown and turned it black. Then it transformed into a pair of ordinary looking pants and a long-sleeve shirt with gloves. 'The material is pretty thin. I should find some new clothes when I'm done here.'

He walked inside the hotel and a young woman was operating the counter. Her eyes widened in fear when she saw the odd masked man enter. He went up to the counter. She smiled nervously and spoke, ”How can I help you today, sir?”

The floor began to melt beneath her. The carpet tore apart as the concrete beneath it transformed into a series of chains that bound her. The leather of the chair behind her turned into a gag that prevented her from screaming. Tears appeared in her eyes as she stared in horror at the man in front of her.

He ignored her and headed straight into the backroom. A fat old man with white hair was sitting at a table drinking some coffee. He froze when he saw Ed enter the room. Some coffee spilt from his mouth and dripped down his chin as he trembled in fear.

”Wh-what do you want?!” The man questioned with a trembling voice.

”I hear you're a local Sinless member. I have some business negotiations to hold with them. Tell me where their headquarters is.”

”You think I'll tell you?!” The man's eyes narrowed as they turned slightly red. He seemed to have found his bearing after calming down. He began to reach for a steam pistol he kept hidden within his trousers. However, a series of chains appeared and bound him just like they had done to the woman previously.

Ed walked towards him and lifted him up by the throat. 'Willing to speak now?”

The man's face was slowly turning red, but he managed to speak with a hoarse voice, ”I won't tell you jack shit. Do your worst!”

He thought for a moment before dropping the man to the ground. He crouched down beside him while staring him in the eyes. ”How about a deal? I don't know why you hate espers so much nor do I care for the reason. However, would you choose to become an esper if the opportunity presented itself?”

The man's eyes widened in disbelief. He spoke in a low whisper, ”You can make me an esper?”

”It's not guaranteed.” He shook his head. ”I have the method for turning ordinary people into espers. The success rate however is only 50%. It's your choice.”

The man looked lost in thought for a moment before his eyes sharpened with resolve. ”I'll do it! What do you want?”

'Heh, dumbass. I've never done it for an ordinary human before. Is he gullible? Or just blinded by greed? The actual odds are probably less than a tenth of 1 percent. Still, it's better to tell him 50%. If I told him the odds were 100% he would be more suspicious.' He stood up from the ground and released the chains binding the man. ”I need mana-powder and mana-cores. I plan to take these resources from Sinless. Will you help or not?”

”I will.” The man nodded. He looked around to make sure no one was nearby despite them being the only ones in the room. ”Follow me.” He whispered.

The two walked further back in the room and stopped in front of a large rug. The fat man bent down and pulled the rug aside to reveal a cellar door. He opened it and they went down some dark stairs into a dimly lit room. Large barrels that almost reached the ceiling took up most of the room while shelves with wine bottles took up the rest. The man happily grabbed a bottle. ”I produce wine as a side-business.” He explained. ”I always bring some as a gift when visiting our local HQ.”

The duo walked to the back of the cellar. They squeezed between two barrels and stood before an ordinary wall. The fat man pushed against the wall and it began to turn, revealing a long dark corridor. The two began to walk down it.

'It would appear the Sinless branch here is far more developed than in Reef city. It makes sense though. Reef city was already a newer city and it just got destroyed. Perhaps we had a bigger branch before then as well.'

They walked through many dark corridors with twists and turns. It would be easy to get lost without a guide. Soon, they reached a large dome-shaped room. A bar and several tables were setup. A series of doors led to smaller rooms.