3 - The city of Rover

(So I get points for not only killing slavers, but also these kinds of 'corrupted creatures', or monsters? I guess there's not that much need to save up my points as I thought…)

While Tom had initially been worried about running out of ammunition due to the cost of the resupplying ammunition, the sudden large influx of points made Tom rethink his plans.

(First of all I need to get out of here…)

Not wanting to catch any sort of unwanted attention, Tom moved about 2 kilometres down the road before cutting into a nearby forest. 

"Time to do some shopping."

Sitting down in a clearing, Tom made sure he was alone before closing his eyes and focusing.

INTERFACE_CONFIRMED:_ACTIVE.

CONNECTION_SECURE.1950_POINT(S)_AVALIBLE.

(The first thing I need to do is start drawing way less attention… I could probably wrap the rifle with something. Can I get a single pelt of leather?)

QURREY_COMPLEATE

STATUS:_AVALIBLECOST:_5_POINTSCONFIRM_PURCHASE_Y/N?

"Yes please, I also need a USIE standart type 13 survival bayonet."

QURREY_COMPLEATE

STATUS:_AVALIBLECOST:_900_POINTSCONFIRM_PURCHASE_Y/N?

Again confirming that objects from his own world was way more expensive compared to things he could find in this new one, Tom nevertheless bought a survival knife along with a pelt of leather and quickly went to work cutting up the pelt into strips that he wrapped around his rifle's barrel and stock, leaving just the sight, trigger and grip uncovered. At glance Tom's rifle would now look far more like a sheathed sword than anything else, at least at a distance.

With concealment somewhat taken care of, Tom started testing a theory he had had in the back of his head for a while now.

"I need a TS-5 with a 9 round drum magazine."

QURREY_COMPLEATE

STATUS:_LOCKED.UNABLE_TO_PURCHASE_AT_THIS_MOMENT.

"As I thought."

The second Tom saw that he would unlock pistols and PDW's from destroying the slave hub in the city of Rover he realised that he would be locked into using just his M-909 DMR for a while. Even though the 909 was a great weapon in of itself, it wasn't suited to just any kind of fight.

For example, the 909's long barrel and slow automatic fire made it unsuited for close quarter combat like a PDW, a relatively short effective range and lack of stopping power compared to an AMR or ATR made it ineffective when employed in anti UGV drone work.

As the saying went, Tom needed the right tool for a specific job and the M-909 DMR didn't fit into every niche.

Deciding to cut his shopping short there, Tom sheathed his knife and hid it in his belt before getting back on the road. The rest of Tom's day went by relatively uneventfully as he made good progress towards his current objective, passing the roadside inn he had been advised to stay at a few hours before sundown. While Tom did pass a number of trade convoys of different sizes and escort profiles, none of them were transporting slaves so Tom let them go with a friendly wave and a smile.

As the daylight started to disappear, Tom started to feel the effects of his light sleep but nevertheless carried on as he heightened his awareness.

(Nothing tracking me so far… But that could change quickly.)

With evening turning to night, Tom increasingly relied on the night sensor in his LNX-L4 scope to scan his surroundings every half an hour as he continued making good progress throughout the night.

As the sun started peeking up from beneath the horizon, Tom finally caught a glimpse of his destination. Surrounded by wheat fields and a 10 metre tall wall, the city of Rover seemed to be a large trade hub with at least 3 different gates and a large, mediaeval looking castle plonked down in the centre of it.

Getting to one of the gates before it opened for the day, Tom was met by a very surprised city guard.

"Morning."

"Good morning… Or I guess that wasn't really the case for you huh."

Seeing how haggard Tom was without a night's worth of sleep, the city guard offered her condolences before giving Tom a closer lock.

"I got lost in the forest and lost my gear… I couldn't find my way back before the sun rose."

"That sounds rough, but at least you adventurer types earn enough for it to be worth the risk. As normal, the entrance fee is 2 copper because the gate isn't opened yet."

Having removed the scope from his rifle and re-wrapped it in leather to make it look like a sword, Tom evaded suspicion of the guard and entered Rover without issue.

(Now to find a proper bed…)

Although he could still go a few more hours without sleep, Tom nevertheless started searching for an inn right away.

Luckily, Tom didn't need to search for long as the gate was prime territory for brothels, pubs and inns.

Avoiding the brothels as he wanted privacy not companionship, Tom quickly spotted a younger-looking redhead wearing an apron and a headscarf sweeping outside an inn.

"Morning."

"H-huh? Good morning!"

Although she was initially surprised by the greeting, the lass put on her best service smile as she greeted Tom with a smile.

"You got any rooms? I've been working all night and really need a place to sleep."

"Sure, we have a few rooms vacant, it's 3 copper a day and meals are 2 copper per portion."

Quickly paying for his room, Tom basically collapsed and passed out in his bed after taking off his boots.

SECONDARY_OBJECTIVE(S)_UPDATED.

NEW_SECONDARY_OBJECTIVE:_DESTROY_THE_ROVER_SLAVE_HUB.

OBJECTIVE_REWARD(S):

SA_PDW_CLASS_WEAPON_UNLOCK

5000_POINTS

8_DAY(S)_5_HOUR(S)_01_MINUTE(S)_REMAINING

END_OF_REPORT.

"Yeah, yeah I know… Time to gather some intelligence."

Waking up as he received an update to his secondary objective, Tom left his rifle behind and hit the streets, finding he had slept all morning and noon and the sky was now orange as the pubs and brothels were starting to open up and see activity. Entering a larger pub that was already half full, Tom went straight to the bar and took a seat between two men wearing leather armour with swords on their hips.

Placing a few copper coins on the countertop, Tom quickly received a tankard filled with a brown, unfiltered ale that he took a swig of as he sharpened his hearing to the room around him.

(Time for the alcohol to do its job…)

Within no time, the alcohol started doing its job and people in the bar started talking and Tom learned a lot about the current world he found himself in.

Firstly, most of the bar's current patrons were a kind of mercenary for hire simply referred to as 'Adventurers' who hunted monsters for their valuable parts, escorted traders outside the walls or were tasked by nobility to suppress bandits among a number of odd jobs.

Of course, those 'odd jobs' also included kidnapping other races and selling them to slavers.

(Going on a killing spree here won't solve anything, to 'destroy the slave hub in Rover' I need to make the act of selling or buying people itself impossible…)

Seeing there was no need to stick around the same bar for much longer, Tom ordered a bowl of lamb porridge from the burly man behind the counter and quickly ate it before he hit the streets now as the night life of Rover was really starting.

As the sun had set about an hour ago, it was starting to get dark, but the streets and main streets were illuminated with some kind of magical street lights which emitted a soft amber glow to make getting mugged on the main streets a bit harder. In addition to the street lights, squads of city guards also patrolled the area wielding blunt weapons like wooden clubs, serving as a kind of police force who broke up fights and ensured some level of order.

Feeling a pair of eyes on him as he walked down the street of the entertainment district, Tom glanced to the side to see a group of people standing in an alleyway observing the passersby while staying out of sight from the city guards.

(Right, keep to the main roads… Unless.)

Visiting a few more pubs throughout the night, Tom only heard vague rumours about an upcoming slave auction somewhere in the wealthier districts of Rover but it seemed like he would have to go with plan B to see any real results.

Following his mental map, Tom left the main streets at about 3 in the morning to look for trouble, and trouble he quickly found.

"Hey hey, didn't you know this is a toll road?"

"Yeah, it's time to pay up!"

In no time at all, Tom was met by a group of 3 thugs with poorly maintained weapons shaking him down for everything he was worth. Approaching the closest thug as his eyes turned cold, Tom struck before anyone could react. Drawing the knife, Tom punctured the first thug's lung, dodged the second one's half-assed sword swing with a sidestep before breaking his knee with a well-placed kick.

"AAARRGH!-"

With the thug on his knees, Tom caught the thug's scream short by slitting his throat before chasing down the final target and tackling him to the ground.

"Please spare me! I-I didn't-"

"I have a few questions I would like you to answer, do that quietly, precisely and truthfully and I'll let you live."

Early next morning, the Rover city guard found the corpses of 3 well-known thugs who had been murdered throughout the night. While the death of 3 thugs weren't really that out of the place, the fact that the killer seemed to have overwhelmed them without resistance and not taken anything from them was.

"Hmm…"

Having finally found some actionable intelligence to work with, Tom found he had more questions than answers, although he did have an idea on where to start.

(The slave hub is most likely the Rover yearly slave auction hosted by affluent merchant Austin Jacobson.)

Once a year, Austin would invite slavers and organise a large auction at his mansion, crucially doing the time up until the auction all slaves would be held at the mansion to avoid associates promising one thing and delivering something else. This all meant that Tom could potentially destroy the slave trade in Rover if he manged to disrupt acution and screw over Austin's associates, if they lost their investments it was likely they would switch their focus to other markets.

(The problem is I need more information about that mansion, where are the slaves held, how are they managed? If they were held with the same kind of slave collar as the runts Tom had freed earlier, then he would need to capture Austin alive.)

"I guess there's nothing else to do… I need more information."

Being the affluent merchant he was, Austin also owned a brothel where the top of the line offer was one of his privately owned slaves, a rare elf said to be a beauty without match.

(I might as well also bust her out… In for a penny, in for a pound.)

The main problem with visiting the elf was the price of admission, but Tom had a fix for that that he would need to test out at some point anyway.