Volume 3: The Nameless Chapter 8 My friend's friend is also my friend
When Mason finished brewing the first dose of potion, his team members returned home with a full load, just like the satisfied sisters after a bloody battle.
Barbara was holding several different types of electronic devices, and Zha Kang was holding a strange-looking magic book.
Ertong was playing with a Damascus sword, and even Catwoman was admiring the colorful jewelry ring on her finger that was completely useless except for being extremely beautiful.
Everyone seemed to get what they wanted.
But they certainly couldn't guess what treasure Mason found in this abstinent room.
"How was it? Was the trade fun?"
The young man walked out of the alchemy room holding a cup of warm potion that had just been taken out of the pot. The strange smell that lingered on him made the two ladies pinch their noses.
In response to Mason's question, the cigarette-dangling scumbag said:
"To be honest, it's just so-so. The rare and precious things from various worlds sound impressive, but after a look around, it's not hard to find that most of them are flashy and impractical. No one would put up a stall for the real good stuff.
The only things that are really useful on that street are some precious materials.
Just an appetizer.
I just asked at the castle front desk, and the cute fairy receptionist told me that the trade fair prepared for senior staff will not be opened in the castle until the evening.
That's the highlight.
But our guess was right, Mason.
The potions and low-level magic weapons you made are very popular among newcomers. Coupled with Lady Selina's super charm, it only took us twenty minutes to sell out everything we brought.
I got you some blueprints."
The dark wizard threw a stack of rolled-up drawings over. Mason took it and looked at it. He then handed the potion that had just come out of the pot to Zha Kang, motioning him to drink it.
Constantine was unwilling to be a drug tester.
But the strange smell of the potion in front of him made the magic power in his body more active.
"A new drug?"
He asked with his eyes squinted.
Mason nodded, analyzed the drawings in his hand and said:
"Perritt Potion. I just learned the formula. Don't mind the name, and don't ask me who Perritt is. This thing can enhance the effects of all spells for a few minutes after drinking it, but it is poisonous, so be careful."
"Cool, this kind of simple and direct strengthening drug is my favorite."
Zha Kang whistled and took a small sip.
After drinking it, veins bulged on his neck, which scared others, but he himself didn't feel anything and just snapped his fingers.
The lighting technique that was originally just a ball of green firefly directly created a fireball the size of a human head, which almost ignited Barbara's long red hair beside her, causing the gentle girl to scream.
"Zha would be willing to pay a lot for this formula."
Constantine put the remaining potions into his bag and rubbed his hands with Mason, obviously asking his captain to pay his "pick-up fee" again.
Mason glared at Zha Kang, but still wrote down the recipe of the Perritt potion and threw it to him.
We are one family, so we always get more tolerance.
"Barbara, there are two barrels, come with me."
After Mason finished analyzing the various drawings that Zha Kang had exchanged for, he threw them into his bag and snapped his fingers to the two new team members. He took out the card that the dirty elf receptionist had given him before and planned to visit another "group of his own" under Mr. Hunter.
Before leaving, Mason took out a piece of paper he had written in advance and handed it to Catwoman, instructing her:
"Selina, take John out for a walk. Get familiar with the environment and buy the supplies we urgently need as written on paper. It would be best if we can buy all of them. If not, we can wait until the high-level trade fair opens in the evening."
"I feel like I've become the steward of Team K, Mason Jr."
Selina took the paper unhappily and complained:
"My sister thinks I can take on more important responsibilities."
"OK."
Mason blinked and whispered:
"I've got my eyes on a pioneer team called 'Amaterasu', so I asked Catwoman to help me gather some information and infiltrate their ranks if possible.
Use your invincible charm, big sister, I look forward to you bringing back good news."
"Well, wait and see."
Catwoman raised her chin proudly and snapped her fingers at Zha Kang, who was still guzzling the antidote, to get him ready to go shopping.
Unlike Mason who came here with a purpose, Selina really treated this trip to Star Castle as a relaxing vacation to relieve the psychological pressure brought to her by her bad adopted son.
On the other side, Mason, Barbara and Er Tong quickly arrived at the standard room on the card.
It was on their level, and not far away.
The arrangement of the rooms inside this star fortress seemed to follow a certain pattern. If Mason guessed correctly, the several nearby houses should all belong to the territory of Mr. Hunter's direct team.
"The other party is a pioneering team that takes the technological route, so we will rely on Barbara's hacking skills to act as an appraiser of the transaction, and Ertong will be responsible for being tough and acting as a bodyguard."
Mason explained to his two teammates:
"Although a conflict is unlikely to break out, if things don't go well, remember to cover me and Barbara and evacuate first."
"bass"
Ertong did not answer, but pulled out the short knife he had bought while shopping and played with it between his fingers like a butterfly flying through flowers.
"Yes! He's the type who would draw a knife and chop someone down if he disagrees with someone."
Mason complained:
"You really are suited to playing this violent lunatic role."
Amid Barbara's chuckle, Mason straightened his clothes and knocked on the door. A few seconds later, a hoarse female voice rang out from the room:
"who?"
"guest."
Mason replied.
The next moment, the door opened a crack, and a pair of vigilant eyes looked outside through the crack, just in time to meet the eyes under Mason's hat.
"I haven't seen you before! Get away!"
This is a girl.
And he seems to have a bad temper.
Mason's attention was focused on her weird yet cool hairstyle. The end of her long green hair was dyed purple and leaned towards the left side of her cheek.
Part of the hair on the right side was shaved off , leaving only stubble, and a delicate metal piece with silver and black interwoven was "embedded" in the skin above the right ear.
Well, if Mason remembers correctly, the scientific name of this thing should be "prosthetic plug-in"?
In addition to her distinctive hair, the tattoos on the girl's arms also made Mason squint.
Especially the "13" surrounded by three red roses on the right arm, and the "spider web" tattooed on the skin that attracts all attention.
"Are you the famous Judy Alvarez?"
Mason whispered:
"What a surprise, I didn't expect to see you here."
"Who are you?"
The stranger in front of her called out her name that she hadn't used for a long time, which made the girl in the house immediately alert. She even put her fingers on the heavy pistol on the waist of her black leather pants.
"I said, I am a guest, and a friend."
Mason flicked his hand.
The card given by Mr. Hunter appeared at his fingertips. The appearance of this thing immediately dispelled some of the hostility of the girl in front of him. Then she heard Mason say again:
"You are the 'Afterlife' team. I'm so slow. I should have guessed who you are when I heard the name.
I am friends with Mr. Sandstorm of the Hydra Team. He introduced you to me and said that you are excellent and professional pioneers who have worked with him. "
"sandstorm?"
Judy showed a hint of disgust when she heard the name. She gritted her teeth and said:
"We are not friends with that bastard! But if Mr. Hunter recommended it..."
"Click"
The protective chain of the door was opened, and the girl, who was not tall and even looked petite, opened the door and nodded to Mason to signal them to come in.
But when Miss Judy saw Barbara Gordon standing behind Mason, wearing a bat suit and mask that perfectly showed off her tall figure, her eyes immediately brightened up, even though she had been resistant.
Even strangely became enthusiastic.
In this messy house that was more like a "workshop" than a residence, they were busy preparing drinks for the reception.
She said to Barbara:
"Sorry, this place is a bit messy. The other members of the team don't come here often, so I use this place as my personal studio. Don't mind."
"Huh? No, I don't mind."
Barbara didn't know why this pretty girl with a unique look was so polite to her, but being gentle by nature, she didn't put on airs but responded to the kindness.
Mason saw the conversation between the two girls.
The evil captain of Team K stroked his chin and looked at Miss Judy with a strange look, who always got close to Barbara.
A very dark thought then popped into his mind.
Judy in front of her was enthusiastically helping Barbara to find a place to sit, but her expression turned cold again when she looked at the two smelly men.
The stylishly dressed girl picked up a piece of gum from the workbench and put it into her mouth. While chewing, she said impatiently:
"The blueprint of the bat suit that Mr. Hunter handed over to us is pretty good. It has no flaws except that it is too outdated. The manufacturing idea of that thing can be used as armor suitable for hacker combat.
Therefore, the captain said let me come and inspect you, and if possible we may be able to cooperate further.
Now, I'll give you your reward first."
As she spoke, a blue light flickered in her eye sockets, as if she was sending a message.
Then a tall, muscular man in black came out of the inner room carrying a box. He placed the box in front of Mason and Ertong with a bang and opened it.
Inside was a strange-looking weapon.
It looks like a prosthetic left hand, which is very well made and looks like a real arm, but there are some special plug-ins on the skin.
Under the gaze of Mason and Ertong, the muscular man in black picked up the thing and activated the switch. With a clang, the snow-white alien blade popped out from the prosthesis in a folded and ejected posture.
The extremely precise mechanical structure, like the limbs of a mantis, gives it an astonishing impact force the moment it pops out.
This vicious and violent weapon specially designed for assassination and close combat made Ertong's eyes light up.
But Mason frowned and reached out to touch it. The next moment, an information label popped up:
Fine Mantis Knife
Quality: Epic engineering, precision craftsmanship
Features: Kill the enemy with certainty, swift as the wind, super-speed start, extreme penetration, weapon plug-in x3
Designer: Arasaka Heavy Industries
Item Description: Which genius came up with this deadly idea of replacing one's arm with a mantis blade?
Tips: Using this precision weapon requires Engineering Level 3. When analyzing the blueprint, the [Photographic Memory] talent is activated, and the analysis speed is increased.
“The stuff is really good stuff.”
With the help of his new talent, it only took Mason a dozen seconds to get the production drawings. He withdrew his fingers with a look of regret and glanced at the muscular man in black next to Judy.
He said:
“However, using the Mantis Blade requires prosthetic modification. To fully unleash its brutal destructive power, I also need to implant an operating system plug-in into the nervous system of my team members.
But that thing is seriously harmful to health.
I will not let my team members lose both hands just to increase their combat effectiveness temporarily. This is not worth it. This thing is too insincere, Miss Judy!"
"Oh, you're a connoisseur."
Judy, who was trying to get close to Barbara, raised her eyebrows. The cool girl with tattoos all over her body put her hands on her hips and said to Mason in surprise:
"You are a good person who cares about the health of your team members. The captains of other teams are not as indecisive as you. Do you know how much you can get from them for a finely crafted mantis knife like this?
It is only because of Mr. Hunter's personal instructions that I will increase your reward to this level.
Don't ask for too much."
"I didn't say you were insincere, I just didn't want this thing!"
Mason decisively refused:
"Change it. Excuse me, you'd better remove all the implants in your body, Miss Judy. You won't live past 50 if you keep wearing those."
As he spoke, Mason took out a Quasar pistol from his waist. This action made the muscular man in black next to Judy immediately pull out a precision pistol and aim at Mason.
The young man glanced at him and said:
"Can't you see we are talking? Get out of here, you rude android!"
He took the magazine off the pistol in his hand and put it on the table, then said to Judy:
"The blueprint for this tech pistol comes from your world. As you can see, I am also an engineer, so I would rather have something similar than something that would damage my health."
"It seems that you are very opposed to body modification. Even the most basic modification in our place seems like a sin to you."
Judy chewed gum and stared at Mason.
Fragments of light flashed in her pupils, and at a silent command, the tall bionic warrior who was protecting her put away his weapon and silently retreated back into the inner room.
The chic girl stepped forward, placed the Quasar pistol that Mason had taken out in front of her eyes, looked at it, and then very skillfully disassembled and reassembled it.
A few seconds later, she had a fire control chip in her hand. It was something Mason got from Wayne Industries' military laboratory, representing Wayne Industries' most cutting-edge technological products in the military field.
But Judy stared at it like it was a bunch of X and said:
"You have good gun-making skills. The weapons you make are comparable to those made by intelligent production lines. But why do you use such an outdated chip to control it?"
Judy narrowed her eyes.
The technology engineer from Night City grinned and said to Mason:
"Ha, I see. What you need most is actually this integrated chip that you consider to be 'future technology', right? You are such a cunning fellow."
“It’s easy to talk to smart people.”
Mason also smiled, leaned back on the sofa, snapped his fingers, and said to his teammates:
"Barbara, it's your turn. Go to Miss Judy's warehouse and pick out some smart chips that can be used with our technological level.
My two Batmobiles and Anti-Superman armor also need a 'mechanical intelligent heart' that can't be locked by remote control."
When Judy heard Mason asking Barbara and herself to go to the warehouse to pick up goods, a smile appeared visibly on her face, but she quickly frowned when she noticed Mason's gaze.
explain:
"Well, I still have the authority to change your compensation, and I think you are a good engineer, Sir Mason. Perhaps our two teams can try to establish a long-term cooperative relationship."
"That's what I thought."
Mason's eyes jumped between Judy and Barbara. He said:
"Should I send a representative to stay with you permanently? Or should you stay in our city as a representative of the 'Afterlife' team? After all, your world has been destroyed, right?"
Hearing Mason's words, Judy's eyes showed a complex and lost light. She took Barbara's hand and led her to her warehouse, and said to Mason without looking back:
"This... let's talk about it later. Don't touch my things. You'll have to pay for it if you break it!"
After watching Judy and Barbara disappear, Mason immediately stood up and walked towards the wall in front of the studio under Ertong's surprised gaze.
The second barrel whispered:
"There are infrared security devices there. If you take them down, it will set off the alarm."
"I don't need to steal them, Jason. What normal person would do something so suicidal on someone else's territory?"
Mason stared at the various weapons hanging on a whole wall in front of him.
There was a captivating light in his eyes and he reached out his hand towards them, like a pervert seeing a beauty after a bubble bath.
He whispered:
"I just want to admire these ultra-modern weapons from the future, and their structure and design ideas, that's all. I can't let Barbara's 'sacrifice' go to waste."
