Chapter 2

"I need a saber, 5 meters long, 30 centimeters wide, 5 centimeters thick on the back."

"Bro, we're not a weapon shop. Huh? Wait, what did you say? How long?"

The boss, who had just grabbed a cup of water from his desk, froze, looking a bit comical as he held the cup in mid-air.

"5 meters."

"Bro, stop joking."

The boss was pretty chill as he did not blow up on the spot. Anyone would think that Victor was playing a prank on them.

"$4,000 should be enough, right? This is a $2,000 deposit. I want you to use your best alloy." Victor pulled out a stack of bills.

Nothing was more convincing than cash.

"You..." The boss was at a loss looking at the money.

The guy wasn't there to mess with him?

He was paying cash?

"Can you do it?"

"Yeah, we can, but we can't sharpen the blade."

Making an alloy blade wasn't hard, there wasn't much skill involved. He was paying too much, though.

"Great. No need to sharpen it. I also need a shield, think of it as something like a steel door. I'll also pay $4,000 for it. Here's the deposit for the steel door." Victor pulled out another $2,000.

"Let me tell you the specific requirements..."

The boss stood in silence, dumbfounded, as Victor talked about his requirements for the weapon and shield.

A few minutes later.

"So, can you do it?"

"Yeah."

"How many days do you need?"

"About a week."

Victor frowned. A week? The mechanical apocalypse would've happened already by then.

"That's too long. I need them in three days. I can pay more." Victor pulled out another $4,000.

"Alright, no problem."

Making $12,000 in three days? Of course there was no problem.

"Good, call me if there are any problems." Victor left his number and took the boss' business card.

When Victor left the shop, it was already dark.

Victor decided to go home. He needed to recall some things. After all, these were events from ten years ago, and his memory was a bit hazy.

When he got home, Victor quickly ate something and started thinking.

"That's right, a high-grade Source Crystal appeared in Riverside at the start of the mechanical apocalypse. If I can get my hands on it...

"The location is...

"The peak of New Wind Mountain. No one knows the exact grade or type of the Source Crystal.

"I have to get that Source Crystal.

While Victor was thinking, his phone rang.

As soon as he saw the caller ID, a murderous aura escaped Victor, but he still answered the phone.

"Victor, where are you?"

"Home." Victor's answer was short. He was trying to control his anger.

"Boooring. Come to Golden Classics, there are plenty of girls here."

"Nah, you have fun. Bye."

"Hey, wait. My sister's coming to visit in a couple of days. Do you want to..."

Beep, beep...

Victor hung up, his hands shaking uncontrollably.

The caller was Stanley Holt, Susan's younger brother and a person he once considered a close friend.

He was the person who ended Victor's life.

"She's coming, she's actually coming. No, it's not time yet, I can't kill her yet. Calm down!"

Victor repeatedly told himself.

But his body was still shaking uncontrollably.

Victor blocked all of Stanley's contacts. He was afraid to see Stanley, afraid he wouldn't be able to stop himself from killing Stanley.

He was even more afraid to see Susan, because he really would kill her.

-

Golden Classics Nightclub.

Stanley stared blankly at his phone.

"That idiot knew I was tricking him to come to pay the bill? Broke loser. And he actually wants to date my sister! Ptui!

"Wait, he's acting weird, he must be hiding something. I gotta check him out."

-

Three days later.

Victor's long-awaited saber and shield were done.

After personally inspecting them, Victor happily paid the remaining $4,000 and had the shop's workers transport the items for him.

"Yeah, just put them in that truck over there."

Under Victor's instruction, the two items were loaded onto the truck.

The workers didn't say anything. To them, Victor was just a fool with too much money.

What were those things they saw in the truck?

If they weren't mistaken, they were a bunch of mousetraps?

There must be about a thousand of them. You wouldn't need a thousand mousetraps even if your house was infested.

Victor didn't bother explaining. Although the saber and shield didn't look great, they were good enough for now.

After that, Victor hired a truck driver.

"I need you to drive to New Wind Mountain. Can you do it?"

"Sure, no problem."

The driver was happy because Victor was paying handsomely.

After loading his electric scooter onto the truck, he got into the driver's seat.

Half an hour later, the heavy-duty truck arrived at New Wind Mountain.

But the truck could only go halfway up the mountain because there was no road ahead.

"You can stop here."

"Here?" The driver was perplexed.

New Wind Mountain wasn't that tall and it wasn't a scenic spot, so there was almost no one around. He couldn’t quite understand Victor's behavior.

The driver had seen the stuff in the truck.

He figured the young man was there to catch rats.

But the driver couldn't understand that kind of hobby.

"Yeah, here. Thanks."

"No problem, no problem. When you want to go back, just give me a call."

"Sure."

The driver gave Victor a business card before leaving.

Victor casually put the business card aside without even looking at it because he knew it wasn't necessary.

Then, Victor looked up at the peak.

"That's the place. The Source Crystal will fall on the peak. Hopefully, nothing will change."

Victor got out of the truck and started climbing the mountain. He wanted to see what the situation was at the peak.

He also wanted to scout out a good place to catch rats.

However, after he climbed the mountain, Victor's expression gradually turned to surprise.

Not because there was anything amazing at the top, but because Victor saw a big mining area.

"How could I forget about this?" Victor slapped his forehead.

In the mining area, dust filled the air, and it was bustling with activity.

"Riverside Mining. The boss' son is one of the future top ten fighters in the country. He's a big shot in Riverside City.

"I'm nothing compared to him. His family is rich and powerful, and he has lots of mining haul trucks under his name. His starter mecha is stronger than other people's advanced mecha."

Victor was a bit jealous.

If he had enough money, he would've gotten a haul truck too. Even a second-hand one would've been fine.

"Forget it. I better not make any contact with him in the early days."

Actually, Victor could try to get a haul truck. After the mechanical apocalypse, each person could only pilot one mecha. Even people with multiple vehicles under their name could only pilot one.

The extra vehicles could be allocated by the owner.

For example, Terrence Wilson, the young heir of Riverside Mining, could control one mecha himself and give the usage rights of the other haul trucks to his lackeys.

If Victor shamelessly became his lackey, he might get one.

But then, Victor would have to obey Terrence's command, and Terrence could take away the mecha's usage rights any time.

That was definitely not what Victor wanted.

"Did Terrence find the Source Crystal that fell on the mountaintop in my previous life?

"Hey, too bad. Technically, I'm not stealing your Source Crystal because it's not yours yet. Please don't come after me.

"Huh? Wait, even if he has a haul truck, it's hard to say who's gonna win. Maybe I should recruit him as my lackey?"

Victor's eyes lit up.

Having one of the future top ten fighters as his follower did not sound too bad at all.