Chapter 684: Guard Mech

The middle-aged man’s attitude did a complete 180—he suddenly turned all smiles and enthusiasm. Without hesitation, he unlocked the alloy gate and waved them inside like VIP guests.

Seeing Ethan casually flash those high-grade crystal cores, Ricky puffed up with pride and started acting a little bolder himself.

"I gotta say, I liked you better when you were all cocky and rebellious."

"..." The middle-aged man’s face darkened, clearly not in the mood to entertain Ricky’s nonsense. Instead, he turned and opened a heavy door behind him, revealing a storage room specifically for consignment weapons.

The place was packed with gear—rows upon rows of weapons, all kinds and sizes.

There were blades and guns embedded with crystal cores, some sleek and compact, others massive and intimidating.

Just from a glance, you could get a pretty good sense of how far human tech had come.

"Boss, interested in an alloy exosuit? Boosts your strength big time and gives you some decent defense too," the man offered, his tone now respectful—he’d even started calling Ethan "boss."

Ethan gave it a quick once-over. It was more of a support tool, but honestly? Kinda useless. If a zombie wore it, it’d just slow them down and mess with their agility.

"Let’s keep looking."

"Oh, sure, sure." The man nodded eagerly and started showing Ethan around like he was giving a tour of a high-end showroom. There were all kinds of crystal core firearms, each with different levels of firepower, and all of them looked seriously badass.

Some of the weapons were useful, sure, but none of them really blew Ethan away. Nothing game-changing.

"How about this one? Magnetic Pulse Rifle—shoots out a high-voltage discharge. One hit, and your target’s fried to ash," the man said, clearly trying to impress.

"Hmm. Not bad," Ethan nodded, but didn’t say anything else.

Because honestly? Even that wasn’t enough to give his zombie crew a real upgrade...

The man narrowed his eyes, realizing this guy had a serious appetite. If he didn’t bring out the big guns, there was no way he’d close this deal.

"Alright, alright. We’ve got one last piece—our crown jewel. It’s been sitting here on consignment for three years. No one’s bought it."

"Oh? What is it?" Ethan’s interest was finally piqued.

"Come with me." The man led them to the very back of the warehouse. He walked up to a wall and pressed a hidden button. With a deep mechanical rumble, the wall split open sideways, revealing a hidden chamber.

This was the deepest, most secret part of the Black Market.

The room was built entirely from alloy, its walls gleaming with a cold, silvery sheen. Solid as hell.

It was spacious and brightly lit, but there was only one thing inside.

Ethan looked up—and his eyes widened.

It was massive. A towering alloy mech, over twenty feet tall, its entire body gleaming silver, with a design that screamed power and dominance.

Even Ricky was stunned, frozen in place. His reaction was just as intense as when Ethan had pulled out those high-grade crystal cores.

"Is that... a Guard Mech?!"

"Bingo. That’s the one. Looks like you know your stuff," the man said with a smug grin. He’d been waiting for this exact reaction.

Ricky was practically vibrating with excitement. "Of course I know it! My girlfriend told me all about it—this is the Inner City’s elite defense unit, top-tier tech. I can’t believe one of these ended up out here in the Outer Zone!"

"Well, like I always say—if you’ve got the cash, you can buy anything here," the man said proudly, clearly enjoying the moment.

"What can it do?" Ethan asked, eyes still locked on the mech.

"Oh, it’s got everything," the man said, practically drooling as he launched into his pitch. "The arms and shoulders are loaded with crystal core firearms and blasters. The elbows? They can deploy lightsabers."

"But the real kicker is the defense system. The outer shell’s got an energy shield that can block crystal core attacks—and even psychic force. Let me put it this way: even a B-rank Awakener inside this thing could wipe out an entire zombie horde."

"..." Ethan stared at the mech, and one thought echoed in his mind:

This... is perfect~~~

This was exactly what he’d been looking for.

Suddenly, lightsabers didn’t seem all that cool anymore...

If he could get his hands on ten thousand of these bad boys, he could steamroll through Necroterra like a goddamn wrecking ball.

This thing was the ultimate trump card.

"I like it. How much?" Ethan asked.

"The original owner wanted a fortune for it, which is why it’s been sitting here so long. But now? He said he’ll let it go for just two SS-grade crystal cores," the man explained.

Ethan nodded. "Can you tell me who the seller is?"

"Nope. Strict confidentiality. That’s our policy," the man replied firmly, not even a hint of hesitation.

Ethan had been hoping to trace the source, maybe find a way to get more of them...

But Ricky suddenly looked panicked. "Wait—sir, you can’t just use a Guard Mech! They’re restricted! If anyone sees it, the Enforcers will come down hard, confiscate the mech, and whoever’s using it could get executed!"

"That’s not our problem," the man said with a shrug. "Let’s be real—how much of what we sell here is actually legal?"

Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep!

Just then, the communicator on the middle-aged man’s belt started going off.

He froze mid-gesture, glanced down at the device, and his brow furrowed slightly. But in the next second, he plastered on a smile.

"My boss needs something from me—just a quick call. You guys go ahead and look around."

"Yeah, go ahead..." Ethan replied casually, his attention already drifting back to the towering Guard Mech.

His eyes scanned down to the mech’s feet—and sure enough, there were flame thrusters mounted at the base.

Damn... if one of my guys wore this thing, they could literally take off.

Meanwhile, the middle-aged man stepped briskly out of the room, his expression tightening as he pulled the communicator from his belt. He lowered his voice.

"Boss, you called?"

"Yeah. You said earlier the guy pulled out six SS-grade crystal cores. You sure about that?"

"Absolutely. I saw it with my own eyes—no doubt about it," the man replied quickly.

There was a pause on the other end. Then the voice came back, colder this time.

"I looked into him. Name’s Dane. No parents, no siblings, no next of kin. If he disappears, no one’s gonna ask questions..."

The man’s eyes narrowed. "So you’re saying...?"

The voice on the other end was laced with quiet menace.

"I’m saying if no one’s gonna miss him, then there’s no reason to let him walk out of there. Take him out. Keep the cores."

"Understood," the man said, nodding firmly.

Reputation? That was the least of their concerns. With that many high-grade crystal cores on the line, it was worth the risk.

Especially when they were in the hands of a lone mercenary with no ties—Dane was practically a walking jackpot.

Back inside, Ethan had finished browsing the rest of the weapons. He now had a decent grasp of the current state of human tech—no longer completely in the dark like before.

Still, everything here was just a

sample

.

If he wanted to get his hands on this stuff in bulk, he’d have to head into the Inner City.

But even these samples were too valuable to pass up. He hadn’t come all this way to leave empty-handed.

"Time to reel it in..."

...