Chapter 86: Mega Crunch.
[Dante, I detect multiple cameras and several types of sensors in the vicinity.]
’Of course you did.’
Even without Volcan’s report, Dante already knew that the place was surrounded by a surveillance system that rivaled that of the most guarded mansions in wealthy parts of the city. The reason his resident AI bothered to mention it was because he had asked him to drop the perfect camouflage he had benefited from a few days ago.
After everything that transpired in Factory Town, Dante came to recognize that being a ghost the entire time increased the chances of him getting exposed instead of erasing them. That’s why he abandoned the idea of relying on it for everything, instead choosing to leave himself exposed and hope what he did to hide his connections to his previous crew was enough to throw the ones looking for the relic off his tracks.
The building under the bridge looked rundown and desolate, on the cusp of turning into a pile of rubble. The windows were sealed with a mishmash of alloy panels held together by steel wire. The paint had long since chipped off, and the reason the yellowish cement blocks under it had yet to corrode was likely the bridge shielding it from the rain.
A bunch of empty oil barrels were scattered outside, surrounded by piles of garbage bags in every color of the spectrum. Those were the ones still left intact. A literal sea of trash covered the surrounding area.
One wouldn’t be wrong to call the place a dump—not even the homeless would actively choose to live in such a place, or the many similar buildings that lined the street it was on. And that’s exactly what made it such a great hiding place.
"This way." Boris motioned for him to follow, leading the way with a small package under his arm. "Don’t step on anything made by Mega Crunch."
And of course, there were traps. If the surveillance systems were meant to alert the building’s residents in case of law enforcement or other intruders, and whatever was hidden under the trash had the job of buying enough time for them to relocate.