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25.24% Steel Waste / Chapter 179: Stranger

Chapter 179: Stranger

As soon as Afton stepped away from the King he was greeted by a familiar message.

[WELCOME TO LEVEL 25]

[WELCOME TO LEVEL 26]

Huh, he hadn't thought that he'd done enough to deserve a level up... Shaking his head he just ignores it and starts looking at what to do with his skill points.

Well, obviously he'll be maxing out his Sneak skill, but after that he didn't really have a clue... Maybe maxing out Energy Weapons and then moving onto science would be the best choice? Guns gave him [John Wick Style], so he was curious at what its counterpart might give.

[Sneak skill maxed out! Blur awarded!]

[Blur] : Sneaking causes enemies to lose track of you even while in line-of-sight. Shadows provide a subtle camouflage.

Afton wasn't sure what to make of the skill, but it seemed pretty useful... Even if his enemies had locked down his position he could possibly just sneak away... Man, that'd be a mind fuck if he ever pulled it off.

Moving onto Perks, again, there was only one new one to pick from.

[Nerves of Steel] : 20% faster AP regeneration. It's good, almost OP even. But it doesn't suit his current fighting style. He hadn't made use of VATS in combat for a long time, finding it more comfortable to be in control of his body at all times, instead of handing off his movements for VATS to attack.

Shaking his head, he looks back through the Perks and eventually decides to just up his S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats again. He could put strength to 9, or upgrade another stat... To be honest, he was leaning more on Perception as it was one of the most important stats for him, strength was only really useful in close quarters combat anyway...

He quickly picks [Intense Training] and ups his Perception and time resumes. Ignoring the slight twitch of pain from maxing his Sneak skill and the extra knowledge from his Energy Weapons skill, he continues walking out of the Kings building.

Afton could already feel the effects of upgrading perception, his senses were sharper, more reactive. He felt he could notice details that weren't there before. Hopefully it wouldn't be too distracting as he had a task set for him.

Stepping out, he walked towards Dirt-Bird, it seemed to have attracted some attention from the Kings, but they were smart enough to leave it alone... They'd presumably heard of the 'bike that kills', or whatever other stories the homeless and thieves were telling about it.

First things first though, he wanted to go find Karl and Boone as they'd most likely know how to better navigate the task he'd been given. Unfortunately, they'd probably be looking all over Freeside until the meeting point, so he was on his own until then.

He glances over to one of the Kings and spots Chance looking at him warily... To be honest, it was kinda difficult to tell any individual apart from the group... They are all impersonating Elvis Presley after all. "Yo, Chance?"

"Y-yeah?" he asks, stuttering slightly as he'd not expected to be called upon.

"Got any idea where some NCR guys might be in Freeside? I need to talk to them see," he explains.

Chance quickly composes himself and looks thoughtful, "The King asked you to deal with this then?... Last I checked there was a large group of NCR civilians that'd claimed a building... Course, they don't seem to care that other people were living there..."

"Uh huh... Think they'd be willing to talk to me?" he asks.

[Spies Guise is in effect]

Chance shrugs, "As long as you didn't mention you were working with the Kings, we kinda roughed 'em up for stealing property. Both groups seem to... Dislike each other." he says ambiguously.

After nods after Chance tells him their location, giving thanks before kicking up the bike stand and accelerating Dirt-Bird towards the civilian's position.

The building itself was in one of the less populated locations in Freeside, trash littered the road, rubble hadn't even been touched aside from the occasional scavenger, and ruined vehicles are strewn about the place. Clearly no one seemed to care about this area at all.

Though, the closer he got to his destination the more people seemed to be around, all of which seemed somewhat cleaner than the usual Freeside denizens. Stopping his bike he waves at one of them and flicks at cap at them, "Yo, I'm looking for whoever in-charge of the NCR civilians in Freeside." he asks, he could try to be stealthy in the way he goes about this, but it was generally just easier to go head-on.

The man who'd caught the cap just scoffs at him and dips into one of the nearby abandoned buildings without handing back the cap. Afton was tempting to walk in there and wring out the money from the man, but it was only a single cap and not really worth the effort.

Shaking his head, he continues onwards, eventually reaching a large building that didn't look to be all that damaged from the Great war. It had around six floors, and all the glass windows had been shattered... Other than that it seemed a fairly good place to set up shop.

Out at the front doors there was a large congregation of people just sitting around, most were playing card games or day-drinking, but a few were looking around as if they were keeping watch... The low thrumb of his bike's engine caught their attention eventually as he pulled up. "Yo."

His greeting seemed to surprise a few, though most were more interesting in Dirt-Bird than they were Afton. His weaponry being the only other thing they took notice of.

"Stranger." a man with a prominent scar on his cheek states, not giving any indication on how feelings towards Afton.

...

"So... I was looking for-"

"I know what you're here for, we don't want you here stranger." he cuts Afton off and states.


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Niggross Niggross

Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know.

next chapter

Chapter 180: Sabotage

Afton just raises a brow at the man, did the Kings have a spy in their midst or something? Maybe he'd given himself away somehow? "What do you mean?"

"I don't need to explain myself to you, now get, we don't need your kind around here." he says with more force than before.

"You don't even know me, though you probably should with all I've done lately." he says, hoping that they'd recognise him and expedite his task somewhat... He wasn't all that interested with talking with these people if he were honest.

The man just shakes his head, "Kid, you could've castrated Caeser and I still wouldn't give a shit. Now fuck off before shit gets nasty."

Afton's about to start threatening and throwing around lead when someone else steps in to intervene.

"Garrick, what're you doing?" a man asks in a monotone voice.

"Just teaching this kid what's what around here Si-Emory." the man named Garrick says, correcting himself mid-sentence.

Afton looks at the man called Emory up and down... They seemed, weird. To say the least. They had brown greying hair and a clean-shaven face. The only other thing of note was that they wore all black clothes. Black boots, black hat, black jacket, black gloves... One might think he belonged to one of those Emo bands...

Emory walked up and extends his left hand for a handshake, "Sorry about him, seems to think 'defending the place' means scaring away any who comes near. I'm Emory by the way."

Afton nods while idly noticing the man's eyes. Most men had a regular mix of emotions whenever he saw their eyes. Though, few had clear differences... Men like Karl and Boone had clear determination while this man? His eyes were kind, yet somewhat jaded... Strange, if it weren't for his Perception and Speech skill he wouldn't have noticed. "Afton... What's with the outfit?" he can't help but say, no matter how rude it might seem.

Emory looks down and shrugs, "Oh this? I just like wearing it." he states, not giving anything away. "So, what has the Executioner of Slavers and other unmentionables come here for? I'll tell you right now that no-one who lives here meets the criteria for your wrath." he quickly explains.

Afton snorts, "I have known criteria now?"

Emory nods, "Well, from what I heard you were pretty clear about it. 'Slavers, rapists, pedophiles, etc."

"Ah... Yeah, I did say something like that..." he mutters, having not realised how widespread his declaration had become. Shaking his head he decides to get on with his main task, "So, this building has been taken by the NCR right?"

Emory raises a brow at him before shrugging, "I suppose you could say that, why're you asking though?"

Afton hums to himself, wondering how to go about this... His brute force method had worked thus far, and he could feel that this guy was more reasonable than the others... "I've been sent by the Kings to negotiate with the NCR, the King specifically wants to know why NCR civilians are coming here in droves, as well as the sudden hostility from the NCR." Afton explains, leaving out the less honest tasks the King had given him.

"Sudden hostility? Is that what he calls it? Man must have tougher skin than I thought." Emory mutters to himself, "There is no 'sudden hostility', the NCR sent an ambassador to the Kings and they were almost murdered for their trouble. I don't know what games they're playing but it ain't one with cards, let me tell you that."

"The NCR sent an ambassador? I don't think the King knows anything about that..."

Emory shakes his head, "Someone must be keeping secrets then, go tell the King that the NCR tried to start talks, come back to me afterwards with his response... I'm the 'unofficial' leader around here so I'm able to speak on the NCR's behalf." he says, clearly not willing to reveal more to Afton.

Afton just nods, "Alright, atleast now I've got a lead on what's going on around here... I'd also like to know why NCR civilians are moving in?"

"I'll tell you when you get back with good news." Emory states, not willing to budge on the subject.

Afton reluctantly leave the place, all the while getting glared at by the NCR civilians as he drives off on Dirt-Bird. Once he gets back to the Kings place he briskly walks inside, intent or seeing the King.

Pacer scowls at him but opens the door regardless, knowing that the King had sent him on a job.

Afton spots the King sitting in the same chair as previous, he sits down opposite him and taps to table to get his attention away from the stage... Afton wasn't sure why watching someone do their best to impersonate Elvis was interesting, especially since there must've been hundreds of Kings roaming around. "Yo."

"Hm? So you're back... I have to say, you're pretty quick youknow. So lay it on me, how'd the job go." the King replies after taking a sip of his drink.

Afton glances around to see if anyone was listening in before speaking in a low ton e, "Yeah, you've got a problem, but it isn't with the NCR... Apparently they sent an Ambassador down to negotiate a while ago, but they were almost murdered in return. You know anything about that?"

The King's eyes widen and it would've been comical if the subject matter wasn't so dire. "The hell? I never ordered anythin' like that, never even heard that they'd sent one of their own down here." he glowers while contemplating, "Seems like someone's tryin' to start things with the NCR, don't know why, we'd lose if we started fightin', that's for sure... You learn anything else?"

Afton shakes his head, "I'm planning to return later with whatever message you intend to send. They leader seems... Rational, so as long as you can sort out whoever's trying to cause trouble I reckon you can work something out without it leading to further escalation."


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Niggross Niggross

Hope you bois like the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!

If you like my content or want to read ahead please go to https://www.p.atreon.com/Nagross, I'd appreciate it.

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