Chapter 78: "Blue Demon" and "Thunder Snake"

Spent the whole night betting on gladiator matches with Michelle. She rolled in with a bag full of cash and left with zilch.

Her so-called "mystical" gambling skills just proved again that gambling's a one-way ticket to broke-ville.

Roy, though? He was in a pretty good mood.

Sure, he lost a few thousand copper coins, but the gifts he got from Lena and Fat Charlie were worth a small fortune.

Next morning, Roy treated the now-broke Michelle to breakfast and promised they'd gamble again sometime. After seeing her off, he hit up a hotel to check out the famous guns Lena had gifted him.

In the privacy of his room, Roy popped open the alloy metal box, punched in the password, and heard the sweet sound of metal gears clicking.

Seeing the two rune pistols inside, Roy finally got why Michelle had said, "Don't flaunt your wealth."

These guns were unmistakable, rocking a steampunk vibe that was both flashy and classy. They screamed high quality and big bucks.

One was black, the other green, both covered in high-level runes that balanced looks and functionality.

"Green Ghost and Thunder Serpent!"

Roy squinted at the names etched on the guns.

Having unique names meant they were "famous guns."

A "famous gun" is crafted by a top-tier gunsmith and is one-of-a-kind.

These bad boys were leagues above mass-produced ones in terms of materials, design, craftsmanship, and runes. Their unique build meant they couldn't be mass-produced and had special features.

The box also had a certificate of authenticity from "Maxim Gun Workshop" and the tech specs for the two pistols.

Roy had heard of the late "Mauser Mitchell," a legendary gunsmith who spent his life making top-notch firearms. Since Master Mauser had passed away and left only a few works, each of his pieces would cause a market frenzy. These fine pistols were the dream "artifacts" for all gun enthusiasts.

Roy raised an eyebrow; Lena's gift was seriously impressive.

These were top-tier luxury items that most people could only dream of touching.

Only a rich family like Lena's could afford to give away two such items as a thank-you gift.

Thunder Serpent

Details: The gun body is made of Hager nickel-based alloy, weighing 7.275 pounds; the gun body is engraved with Level II stability runes, Level III durability runes, and kinetic energy recovery runes; it’s fully enchanted with high-level elemental conduction, dust resistance, and anti-oxidation enchantments; this gun's firing rate is +20%, accuracy +135%, and initial bullet velocity +50% compared to the baseline; it can load Level III high-explosive rounds, with an effective range of 900 feet for regular bullets and 1,800 feet for armor-piercing alchemical rounds.

Green Ghost

Details: Weighs 25.511 pounds; the gun body is engraved with Level II stability runes, Level I cooling runes, Level II durability runes, and special permanent runes; it’s enchanted with mid-level elemental conduction, dust resistance, and high-level wind element rifling enchantments; this gun's firing rate is +110%, accuracy +40%, and recoil -75% compared to the baseline; it can fire 700 rounds of universal ammo without jamming, with an A+ rating for rapid-fire alchemical rounds.

"Damn, these specs are insane, and they're just handguns!"

Roy checked out the tech specs of the two guns and felt an irresistible pull.

He was now a mechanic with [Basic Mechanical Mastery], able to tweak and build regular firearms.

So, seeing the specs of these two rune pistols, Roy was genuinely blown away.

The attributes of these two rune pistols weren't just good; they were off the charts.

Thunder Serpent was a big-caliber, high-power handgun, basically a "sniper rifle among handguns." The high-level runes gave it the power and range of a typical sniper rifle.

A regular handgun's effective range is only 150 to 300 feet, but this beast hit 900 feet, even more with alchemical rounds.

Green Ghost was a high-rate-of-fire gun, precise, fast-firing, and with almost no recoil, making it a killer firearm.

Its stats were so crazy it was like a light machine gun. Paired with a specially designed extended mag, it could double a gunman's firepower.

After ditching the Three-Headed Ghost, Roy was worried about not having a solid rune pistol, and now these two were perfect.

One packed a punch, and the other was rapid-fire, making them a killer combo for him.

These were a tier or two above the ones Charlie had given him in the underground, clearly high-end collectible rune firearms!

Plus, the mechanical box had not just the two pistols but also several boxes of alchemical rounds.

Roy gently caressed the guns and bullets in the box like he was stroking the skin of a supermodel.

The fifty thousand copper coins Charlie had given him didn't faze him at all, but looking at the two guns Lena had gifted him, Roy was genuinely stoked.

Not to mention the few boxes of alchemical rounds, which alone might be worth over a million copper coins, these two famous guns were priceless treasures.

Miss Lena was indeed thoughtful.

"But these fancy-looking guns are kinda a problem."

Roy eyed the two high-value pistols, his mind buzzing with an idea.

For him, guns weren't collectibles; they were tools meant to be used.

But strapping them to his waist would be way too flashy. As a small-time gangster, he couldn't pull off the look of someone packing such high-end heat.

Even though he couldn't make guns of this caliber yet, he could do some minor tweaks, like aging them or giving them a paint job.

Roy realized Lena wasn't just being generous; she had picked these two rune guns that didn't look too over-the-top. She probably knew carrying them around might be a hassle and made it easier for him to modify them.

When Roy left the "Bearded Mechanic's Workshop" on Green Street, it was almost ten o'clock.

By the time he walked out, the gun holsters under his trench coat held two slightly different but heavily worn pistols. The high-end runes on the gun bodies were covered with paint, hiding their shine and making them look ordinary.

Roy tested the guns at the shooting range, and they felt surprisingly good.

True to their names, Green Ghost fired rapidly, with a green ghostly flame at the muzzle, and could shoot hundreds of rounds without heating up or jamming; Thunder Serpent was precise and deadly, with bullets that seemed like instant lightning strikes.

Roy finally got a taste of the "power of money." With these two famous guns in hand, his combat power visibly skyrocketed.

Now that he had some cash, Roy figured he should get a motorcycle for getting around. Taking the bus every time was a pain.

The workshop owner, Lait, had just gotten a batch of old military motorcycle parts from the inner city and had modified a high-performance heavy motorcycle. Roy bought it for over twenty thousand copper coins.

Guns, leather jacket, motorcycle.

Now he had the complete set, the standard gear for an old-school gangster.

Checking the time, today was the day Gloria was supposed to hand over the house.

Roy had had enough of the cheap hotel life and urgently needed a private, stable place to make puppets and practice some noisy alchemy.

Before long, he rode his motorcycle to the building at 88 Ginkgo Street.

Landlord Gloria greeted him with a smile, showing no sign that she had just rented Roy a "haunted house" where someone had died.

Probably because Roy had already paid and the contract was non-refundable, Gloria didn't hide the fact that someone had died there.

"I heard someone died in this house before?"

"Dear sir, you know, too much dark energy is a disaster for ordinary people. I think it was just an accident, and you happen to need this dark energy."

Gloria was sharp, and Roy couldn't squeeze any useful info out of him.

The small building had been cleaned top to bottom.

The first floor had a living room, dining room, fireplace, and a maid's room; the second floor had bedrooms and a study, pretty standard setup.

The furniture, though kinda old, looked barely used.

There was also a spacious cement basement that could double as a shooting range and lab.

For the price and the setup, it was a steal.

But the place had a history of deaths, and not just one.

Roy had Gloria tag along as he checked out every room.

Whenever he had doubts, he discreetly used his all-seeing eye but found nothing weird.

Except for the high concentration of dark energy in the basement, which could cause mutations, Roy found no other deadly factors.

Finding a spot this perfect was rare, and Roy wasn't about to ditch it just because of some past deaths.

He took the keys and spent the whole day chilling in the house.

Still, nothing weird popped up.

At night, Roy took a break from patrolling Green Street with Kai.

He had a big task ahead: turning the spider leg materials and blueprints into alchemical implants to become a legit professional.

Turning cursed materials into alchemical implants needed complex enchantments and alchemical conversion processes. With his current [Intermediate Forging Basics] level, Roy could only handle black iron materials, and even then, there was a high chance of screwing up.

Roy had initially thought he could get some silver spider leg materials and have a decent alchemy shop customize his Eight-Armed Spider Spear.

But now, the materials were too good, which was a problem for Roy.

Silver and gold-quality materials could still be found in the outer city.

But "dark gold-level" cursed materials needed top-tier enchantments, runes, and crafting techniques, demanding super high skills from the alchemy craftsman. It even required "master-level" proficiency to make sure the materials wouldn't go to waste.

In all of Old Linton, there were only a few "master-level" alchemy craftsmen, and they were usually working for big families in the inner city. There were even fewer in the outer city, and the highest-ranking alchemy craftsmen in the three major gangs were only at the "expert level."

Roy had only one set of Empress Spider legs and didn't dare to experiment recklessly.

So, he planned to hit up the black market to see if there was any word on a "master-level craftsman" in the outer city.

Unless absolutely necessary, he didn't plan to use his limited connections to ask Lena for help.