Despite the sanctions against the Seven Snakes’ shopping arcade, it had been holding up well for more than a month since its inception. Already, it had become a mainstay for local residents both from within the district as well as beyond to visit.
The light-thrower shows brought countless...
2023-04-27 15:20:01 +0000 UTC View PostKyle deftly sidestepped the incoming punch before ducking as a sword swung horizontally over his head. With a quick counter swing of his hammer, he fractured the ribs of the first thug before swivelling around him and kicking him in the back, sending the first thug crashing into the other.
...
2023-04-26 13:58:59 +0000 UTC View PostReese whistled to himself as he slid his hand over the varnished table, glistening with a smooth glossy surface. He grinned to himself as he look around the posh office, complete with an overview of the streets outside through transparent glass walls.
Ever since he established the Sliver Sn...
2023-04-26 13:56:42 +0000 UTC View PostA week later…
“Why hasn’t the shopping arcade been taken over yet! They should be bankrupt by now!” The chairman tapped the table with his fingernails rasping against the hardwood.
A wave of murmurs spread through the table, where more than two dozen business owners s...
2023-04-25 14:14:58 +0000 UTC View Post“Berth 9, wagon arrived ten in the morning. Attacked by small-time thugs, with light damage to its exterior. The driver says that a restaurant was doing roadworks that blocked half of the road. They are really pulling out all the stops this time.” Monica spoke quickly as she walked with Kyle ...
2023-04-25 14:14:35 +0000 UTC View PostLeyton breathed slowly as he lay flat under a shrub, the dense foilage masking his presence save for a small little opening through which his eyes peered outwards, overlooking a sandy road long weathered by wagon wheels.
He gripped the arctech radio tightly, checking the volume dial on it. ...
2023-04-24 12:21:43 +0000 UTC View Post“By Yual, you actually did it!” Reese celebrated as he and Gordon watched Kyle demonstrate the Mechanical Arcia Regenerator.
“But the efficiency is extremely low – how are we going to find such a large source of mechanical energy in the city?” Gordon pondered.
“Perhaps we ...
2023-04-24 12:20:43 +0000 UTC View PostThree days later…
Sebastian sipped on a cup of tea at a luxurious restaurant in the Central Sector. As he placed the cup down, he could already hear slightly agitated footsteps approaching him from behind.
“The great leader of the Seven Snakes, this agitated. You should b...
2023-04-23 13:21:12 +0000 UTC View PostThe opening day of the shopping arcade was in full swing, with hundreds of visitors flocking towards the shopping malls.
Kyle watched the entire affair from the top floor office’s balcony, overlooking the front lobby of the shopping arcade, a mere five storeys above. Keith was already gid...
2023-04-23 12:57:08 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Note: Arc 3 focused on construction, media and politics. Kyle will also make a trip to Versia to find out the source of the exosuit spine - but first he must consolidate his power and position in Raktor.
One month later…
Baron Cain shifted...
2023-04-22 15:27:49 +0000 UTC View Post“It is Nona, our goddess, who have shaped the earth as it is. Who has laid out every food, animal, monster and plant for our needs. And the Word of the Goddess states – ‘I have created everything on this planet for the enjoyment of the human race. Who dares claim that humans shall not consu...
2023-04-22 15:27:21 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Note: Chapter 45 has been revised - Kyle does not kill Reese any longer. The organisation that put out the kidnapping contract is a completely different entity. Kyle and Sasha 'kinda' used Reese as bait, but the client killed himself. Only the last part of the chapter changed t...
2023-04-21 15:45:28 +0000 UTC View Post“So I just have to stand here?” A little girl with pigtails glanced around the room, while a large arctech device was aimed right at her, four black lenses staring her down.
If she did not know any better, she would have assumed it was a monster of sorts, but she had complete faith in t...
2023-04-21 10:32:09 +0000 UTC View PostBishop Vernette frowned as she read through the reports over the last few days.
While the raid on the Ilysian Punks had been going on, someone had been disseminating cheap repeater handguns much like the one sold in the auction, prompting countless small-time criminals to buy them.
Ba...
2023-04-20 12:59:31 +0000 UTC View PostKyle grabbed the head of yet another Ilysian Punk and punched it hard, his fist cratering the punk’s face in. While he had managed to clear out the Ilysian Punks from the Seven Snakes district, he was slightly surprised as to how easy the counterattack was on the following day after the initial...
2023-04-20 12:57:22 +0000 UTC View PostMakoa gasped for air as he crawled on the floor, the broken pieces of his metal gauntlet stabbing into his arms. A hand grabbed his head and lifted him up, causing him to grunt in pain.
Kyle bent over and touched the belt of Makoa from behind.
Eric Dicar winced as he plugged his ears with his finger, the screeching sound of the mortar tubes and the deafening thuds nearly blasting his eardrums apart. “I didn’t sign up to be an artillery crew!”
Gordon wiped the sweat off his brow as he and two other associates lugged a custom...
2023-04-19 12:10:01 +0000 UTC View Post“So, you’re the Seven Snakes’ dedicated brewer?”
“And you’re the new arctech designer. How did Kyle enslave you?”
Gordon had a confused expression on his face. “Enslave? He helped install me as the factory manager.” Gordon was working on a large arctech radio, a modi...
2023-04-18 13:37:32 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Note: Feel free to point out any errors or mistakes via comments or discord, will try to fix as soon as I have a free day to edit.
Keith woke up groggily, noticing he still had bandages all over his body as he lay on a white bed. He gingerly touched his face as he st...
2023-04-18 13:36:07 +0000 UTC View PostAll the inquisitors could see in the morning was a smoldering wreck of a wagon, crashed into a building. No bodies could be found, and if there were, they were all burnt to a crisp, apparently dying after the wagon’s arctech engine caught on fire.
“The Seven Snakes are definitely not pl...
2023-04-17 13:09:00 +0000 UTC View PostThe arena devolved into a frenzy, the audience thinking that the ensuing fight was part of the show. The fence surrounding the ring shook violently, the crowd cheering on the Ilysian Punk Guards and Sasha. Everyone was here to see blood.
Sasha deftly avoided the first lunge, parrying with h...
2023-04-17 13:07:57 +0000 UTC View PostGordon inspected the new prototype barrel that came out from the factory floor, checking the engravings. “It’s a bit rough around the edges, so the efficiency isn’t extremely high. Maybe if we modified the engraving to be more spaced out, that would result in less interference between the t...
2023-04-16 10:19:42 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Note: I might redo some of the advanced chapters to make the worldbuilding a bit cleaner, since I'm writing it on the spot. Will update with a changelog if I do so.
Five days later, at the Lusty Arcian…
“What? We’re expanding the brothe...
2023-04-16 10:18:53 +0000 UTC View PostKyle did not expect to be treated this well by the enforcers when he came in to report about finding a crate of military equipment. He also did not expect to have an impromptu meeting with the inquisitors, who wanted to talk with him right after.
The three of them were now sat in a lobby ar...
2023-04-15 12:06:01 +0000 UTC View PostWhat the fuck is an exosuit spine doing here? Kyle Hawthorn was stunned, but he quickly controlled his expression, aware that Master Xen was watching him. He twisted his facial expression to one of disappointment, sighing audibly.
“Sir Hawthorn, is there a problem with the items?...
2023-04-15 10:18:01 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Note: Managed to push for three chapters today, hype.
The Central Sector was not free of crime, though its crime was of a higher class. Rather than petty protection rackets and inane extortion, it was here where most of the money laundering, trafficking and high-valu...
2023-04-14 16:22:46 +0000 UTC View PostThe factory churned with a never-ending rumbling sound. Soot and fumes blanketed the entire factory floor, with large arctech furnaces melting metal, slag drifting on molten rivers. Assembly lines formed as dirt-covered workers moved their hands through the same mundane motions, twisting and scre...
2023-04-14 10:04:18 +0000 UTC View Post“The Red Lions took our shipment?” A burly, tanned man covered in tattoos grunted, staring down from his chair at the man kneeling in front of him, who was bruised and bleeding. “Captain, this is not an easy conclusion to make. Are you absolutely sure?”
“I-i-uhh, no, but all of th...
2023-04-14 10:03:54 +0000 UTC View PostWord on the street was all about how the enforcers were protecting the factories quite frequently. Even the Ardent Cretins seemed to be protecting their factories for some unknown reason. Rumour was that the enforcers finally had enough of hijackings and were actually doing something serious abou...
2023-04-13 07:55:18 +0000 UTC View PostThe return of Kyle to the Seven Snakes was hushed and kept on the down low, with no fanfare. Kyle did not want to tip off any of the observers, be it the enforcers or other gangs like the Ardent Cretins.
He had left Sasha and the company workers behind in the goblin den to serve as the logi...
2023-04-13 07:53:31 +0000 UTC View Post