The Demonic Capital: New York
“Where are we headed this time, junior?”
“The Brooklyn Navy Yard area.”
I answered Mimata Chieri’s question while swinging my leg over the motorcycle. During World War III, the Brooklyn Navy Yard had churned out countless warships, and to speed up delivery, defense contractors had sprouted like mushrooms all around it. Eight years after the war ended, a great many of those factories now stood abandoned.
My goal was to loot the high-performance equipment hidden inside those ruined factories. The industrial zone around the Brooklyn Navy Yard contained numerous high-cost, high-performance prototype weapons that had been too expensive for mass production. Some companies had gone bankrupt precisely because they poured everything into making those weapons. That was probably why so many factories had become ruins.
“By the way, why didn’t you get angrier at that woman called Otagi Yuka? I know I caused a huge misunderstanding by making a scene, but if you had been an ordinary person instead of yourself, you would have died from that attack.”
“Like you said, senior, we did create the misunderstanding. But more than that, my real aim was to let Otagi Yuka rampage even more so she would draw Kurotsukido’s attention. That’s why I held back.”
“Attention?”
“That way, Dang Sohwa’s newly formed organization can stabilize in safety for a little longer. An ordinary person might have died, but I didn’t, so I could afford to endure it once. If I had lost my temper and Otagi Yuka became more cautious and rampaged less, Kurotsukido headquarters might have targeted Dang Sohwa first. Taking the practical benefit was better than giving in to immediate emotion.”
“That makes sense too. Since they’re on the same continent, they can attack anytime. The New York branch is more important to them than the Northeast Asia branch, which still has human networks left. If the New York branch disappears completely, they’d have to start over from zero, so they’ll focus here first.”
“Exactly.”
Even if Otagi Yuka got herself into danger through her own recklessness, it wasn’t my problem. The safety of Dang Sohwa and Yang Seol-hee, who were my people, mattered far more. And even if Otagi Yuka charged headfirst into peril, Eve, who was working with her, had a tight grip on the Dark Merchant’s intelligence network. She would let me know if things got truly dangerous.
We sped along on the motorcycle, heading south through Brooklyn. The sun was setting, painting the sky in twilight hues. I watched an orange sun the same color as Mimata Chieri’s hair slowly sink into the sea until we finally reached our destination.
On one side of the massive, rusted factory, the words Energy-Link Industrial Company were still visible. Another wall was covered in somewhat crude graffiti.
With graffiti scattered all over the abandoned factory, the place gave off the vibe that gangsters might jump out at any moment. It felt like the kind of spot ordinary people would never approach. Of course, there was nothing worth stealing here, and with a military base nearby, actual gangs wouldn’t dare linger. It was simply a desolate ruin.
We hid the motorcycle in a secluded corner, carefully scanned our surroundings, then stepped inside the factory.
The interior was filled with discarded, rusted equipment bathed in the light of the setting sun. A strange stench hung in the air along with an eerie atmosphere. It was probably because of that thing I already knew about.
After taking a few more steps, the sound of machinery whirring to life reached us, and two chilling red lights fixed their gaze in our direction.
Revealed by the twilight glow streaming through the windows, that thing was a mechanical wolf. It was the very same monster that had ambushed naive players searching for items in New York, pissing off both the TMC and MegaCorp’s youngest son.
The mechanical wolf’s origin was none other than this factory’s owner, Energy-Link Industrial Company. The now-deceased president had been a complete psycho who liked to scatter these monstrosities all over the world, making them pop up without warning.
The fact that it was simply watching us with glowing eyes instead of attacking suggested its AI hadn’t properly learned combat routines yet. Still, it must have killed several intruders already. The odd stench I smelled was probably the rotting odor of human corpses. The bodies themselves had been cleaned up, since none were visible inside the factory, but dark bloodstains dotted the floor here and there.
Weapons made during World War III often came with built-in murder AIs. Those AIs had leaked during the war and been used in all sorts of ways, causing countless accidents even after the conflict ended. As a result, every nation now enforced extremely strict regulations on AIs.
The most infamous incident had occurred in Japan. Someone programmed a murder AI into a gun-equipped drone and unleashed it at a local festival, killing over three hundred people—including a sitting member of parliament.
After that event, terrorist groups and mentally unstable social outcasts began copying the tactic, leading to incredibly harsh regulations on mounting firearms or explosives on drones. Similar restrictions were placed on murder AIs.
“Junior, it’s a robot puppy!”
“Be careful.”
I stopped Mimata Chieri from getting any closer as she made a fuss. A robot puppy? Didn’t this thing look terrifying? Its teeth were like saw blades, and its eyes glowed blood-red. It was a metal wolf, for crying out loud.
It looked scary, but mechanical wolves were only annoying when they hid and went for the throat. Any player who had grown even a little could take one down easily.
I slowly approached the mechanical wolf. It lowered its body, preparing to pounce.
The moment I got close enough, it sprang like a compressed spring, aiming straight for my neck. I dodged lightly. It was incredibly fast, but its movement was so linear that avoiding it was simple.
The mechanical wolf sailed past my neck through empty air. I grabbed it mid-flight and slammed it into the ground. I pinned its neck with one hand and gathered the Abyss in the other, intending to crush its throat and destroy it completely—when something suddenly occurred to me.
If I fix this thing’s AI and slap some fur on it, it could work as both a guard dog and a bodyguard, right?
I could destroy it, but I couldn’t shut it down. I turned my head toward Mimata Chieri.
“Senior, do you know anything about machines? I want to disable this guy.”
“It should be enough to cut its power supply. Hold it tight for a second.”
I had no idea what they taught at the Taira Group’s agent training school, but while I held the mechanical wolf down, Mimata Chieri felt around its body before slipping her hand into its underbelly.
“This wire looks like the one. Should I cut it?”
“Yes.”
The mechanical wolf had been thrashing wildly to escape me, but the instant Mimata Chieri severed the main power line, its movements stopped as if someone had flipped a switch.
“I’ll take this with me when we leave. For now, let’s focus on why we came here.”
I left the mechanical wolf where it was and headed for a corner of the factory. If my memory was correct, it should be right about… here. I pressed my hand against the exact spot I remembered from my past playthrough. A section of the steel wall slid open, revealing a small hidden space.
“Whoa! How did you find that?”
“I saw it in the future.”
Mimata Chieri asked in amazement, but I gave the usual excuse about foresight. On the workbench inside the small alcove lay a single firearm about forty-five centimeters long. It looked like something straight out of a sci-fi movie or game.
Its official designation was EL-0001, nicknamed EL1. During World War III, Energy-Link Industrial Company had pushed it as the next-generation rifle to replace the U.S. military’s standard issue. Rather than firing physical bullets, this futuristic-looking gun used a battery pack to shoot energy rounds.
The power was decent and the rechargeable battery packs were attractive, but each pack only allowed ten shots and weighed a ton, so it had failed the first round of testing. Maybe that was why the president had gone mad and released steel monsters into the world.
In the early days of the game it had been treated as a joke item, but one player had brought it back into the spotlight. A user with Pyrokinesis had posted on the TMC community that when he used it, both the ammo capacity and firepower increased dramatically, and it even added flame damage.
That discovery revealed the rifle could sync with certain superpowers, sparking countless studies. The results showed that natural-element abilities like Pyrokinesis and Electrokinesis had excellent compatibility with the weapon.
Since we had Kiyona Marina with her Pyrokinesis and Alexandra with her Electrokinesis, this gun would be quite useful.
“I’ve never seen a gun like this before. Try shooting it, junior!”
“Shall I?”
As I gathered the rifle and battery packs, Mimata Chieri, who had been watching from behind, spoke up. I smiled faintly and aimed at a spot on the floor.
With a low woong sound, the EL1 activated and fired. My Abyss was suddenly sucked into the gun, and a black, tentacle-like energy projectile shot toward the ground.
BOOM!
The floor cratered violently. Wait, this thing has good synergy with the Abyss too? The power is no joke.
“But why did it shoot out tentacles?”
“I have no idea. That was loud, so people will come. Let’s get out of here quickly.”
I handed the rifle and battery packs to Mimata Chieri and picked up the now-deactivated mechanical wolf. There were still a few more things worth taking in this industrial zone, but with a military base nearby, soldiers would be patrolling. Today was probably as far as we could push it.
The mechanical wolf was awkward to carry, so I set it across my lap and got on the motorcycle. Mimata Chieri stowed the gun and batteries in the trunk and rode beside me.
We quickly left the Brooklyn Navy Yard area and headed back toward the Dark Merchant’s New York branch. I needed to send this rifle and the mechanical wolf to Japan. Since I wasn’t familiar with smuggling routes, I planned to leave it to the professionals at the Dark Merchant.
