Chapter 28: Department Store
With Olivia's incredible X-ray vision helping them, Finn and Jimmy searched for loot far more quickly. Before long, they had stripped the Demon Gang's hideout clean, stuffing every valuable item they could find into their pockets.
Finn stopped hiding his storage space and openly shared his food and water with the others.
In Olivia's eyes now, besides her original curiosity, there was a deep layer of gratitude and admiration—and a faint, hard-to-describe ripple of emotion.
She cradled the bottle of pure water Finn had given her, took a tiny sip, and instantly felt the sweet, clean liquid soothe her throat. This was hands-down the cleanest water she had ever tasted!
After savoring that small sip, Olivia carefully tightened the plastic cap, wrapped the bottle in several layers of coarse cloth, and tucked it deep into her backpack.
The bottle was made of soft, flexible plastic. In this wasteland, plastic items were incredibly rare—only occasionally dug up from the ruins left behind before the Cataclysm.
Olivia believed Finn must have come from a developed, powerful Refuge City, where the air and water were far cleaner, food was never in short supply, and a basic industrial system already existed, capable of producing small plastic goods like this.
She desperately wanted to ask Finn—who exactly are you? Where did you come from? Where are you heading? And what kind of special ability do you control?
But she also knew their relationship was nowhere near close enough for that. Asking too many questions out of nowhere would only annoy him. So she stayed quietly by Finn's side, doing her best to help with her see-through ability.
Finn had already told Olivia the truth: the massive explosion at the Michael Hotel last night that wiped out the entire block was the Demon Gang’s doing. His “personal grudge” meant they were going to pay a brutal price for it.
“I’ve decided to wipe out the Demon Gang,” Finn said calmly, sounding as casual as if he were talking about doing laundry.
At first, Olivia thought Finn was being way too reckless and unrealistic. After all, even Black Mountain’s Refuge Security Force had fought the Demon Gang in dozens of battles over the years and still couldn’t uproot them completely.
But then she saw it with her own eyes—Finn blocking three rockets, taking a grenade launcher blast head-on, and killing a Tier 3 Vanguard mutant who could control flames. Only then did all her worries vanish.
Olivia was now certain: Finn was already a Tier 4 Vanguard, maybe even the legendary Tier 5—an invincible war god!
At the same time, she noticed that Jimmy, who was tagging along with Finn, seemed to have zero combat ability. He was basically just dead weight! Even though he always carried a rifle, the second anything dangerous popped up, he would instantly duck into a crouch and cover his head, his movements smooth and practiced like he’d done it a thousand times.
In just this short half-day, Finn had already wiped out three more Demon Gang hideouts and one “innocent” Cowboy Gang hideout, hauling away a huge stash of weapons, ammo, and all kinds of valuable loot.
During this time, they occasionally bumped into soldiers from the Refuge Security Force. As soon as Olivia greeted them, the soldiers quickly moved on without bothering Finn or Jimmy at all.
“Are you guys launching a full-scale cleanup on the Demon Gang?” Finn asked while sliding rifle rounds one by one into a magazine.
On the other side, Jimmy was straining with every ounce of strength he had, veins popping on his forehead, just to force a single bullet into his own magazine.
“Yes,” Olivia nodded.
That was exactly why she had stayed glued to Finn’s side instead of linking up with the Security Force. Since their goals basically overlapped, helping Finn worked just fine—and Finn was clearing enemies much faster.
Those fortified positions that the Refuge Security Force had hammered for years without breaking through—Finn would simply charge straight in through a storm of bullets. Moments later, violent explosions would rip through the building, Demon Gang members would be blown through the roof by the shockwave, while Finn casually walked out of the smoke and flames without a single scratch.
Olivia felt incredibly lucky she had never fired at Finn before. A man this powerful and dependable—if he ever became an enemy instead of a friend, it would be an absolute nightmare.
“Do you know where the Demon Gang’s headquarters is?” Finn asked, strapping the fully loaded magazine to his belt. Since he was traveling with Olivia, Finn decided to save on Profound Energy and fight with regular firearms as much as possible.
Olivia pulled out the Black Mountain map and spread it flat on the ground. “We’ve been scouting the Demon Gang’s headquarters too, piecing together every clue we could find plus my own detection…”
Her fingers pointed straight at the “Copperfield Department Store Building.” “The Demon Gang’s headquarters is most likely right here in this thirty-story tower.”
……
Finn, Olivia, and Jimmy hopped into a jeep with Olivia behind the wheel. They tore down the empty, ruined highway streets, cut straight through battle zones where bullets were flying everywhere, and finally stopped on a commercial street that still had some life in it.
Merchants and street vendors moved through the street in steady numbers. The occasional gunfire and explosions from other blocks didn’t seem to dampen their mood at all. Loaded ox carts and pickup trucks crawled along side by side while locals hawked their rough homegrown tobacco.
Every now and then, a few women in skimpy outfits stood by the doors, swaying to draw customers and making no effort to hide what they were after. Several of them shot Finn flirtatious looks, but he acted like he didn’t see them at all.
The Copperfield Department Store was a grand high-rise from before the Cataclysm that had escaped any serious damage during the wars. Thirty stories tall, every floor had its own purpose, and the crowd inside was a mix of every sort—criminals and ordinary people alike.
According to Olivia, the Security Force could barely keep control over this whole district. The handful of beat cops they sent on patrol were nowhere near enough. Without absolute certainty of victory, the Security Force wouldn’t dare charge in recklessly.
The three of them stood right in front of the department store entrance, craning their necks to look up at the towering building. Around the twenty-fifth or twenty-sixth floor, clusters of green leaves and vines spilled out from the windows. Olivia told them those were two whole floors turned into hydroponic grain farms.
“Are we seriously just walking straight in like this? That’s way too dangerous,” Olivia whispered, clearly worried. People around them were already giving them hostile stares.
Olivia wore a tight-fitting black combat uniform and held a matte-black submachine gun in her arms. With her striking looks, she drew eyes no matter where she stood.
“Of course I’m going in,” Finn said. “As for the Demon Gang’s headquarters, we’ll just sweep floor by floor. We’ll find it eventually. If you guys don’t want to come, that’s fine—I’m not forcing anyone.”
“I’ll go with you and guide the way,” Olivia said calmly. The entire building was far too complicated for her to see through completely, but checking and analyzing two or three floors at a time was no problem.
Seeing Finn about to storm straight into the heart of the enemy, Jimmy realized he had no way out. He steeled himself and blurted, “Real heroes walk through death traps—only cowards turn back! Bro, with you here, I’d follow you straight into hell!”
In the end, it’s still because I’m here, Finn thought, secretly shaking his head. He took the lead and strode into the towering thirty-story building. Olivia followed right behind him, and Jimmy quickly grabbed his assault rifle and hurried in after them.
The first-floor entrance stood wide open. The three of them vanished inside, swallowed whole by the concrete-and-steel monster.
Outside, a ragged little girl reached under her skirt, pulled out a communicator, and pressed the red button.
The hunched old man selling tobacco set down his pipe, pulled a heavy revolver from under his stool, and walked straight through the doors.
A burly man squatting on an ox cart slammed shells into his shotgun, leaped down, and headed for the entrance. The merchant in the cowboy hat kicked open his truck door and hauled out a belt-fed machine gun…
Even more people were pulling out various weapons, streaming toward the entrance…