The Legendary Junkmaster

"Jason! You've got to see this!" Harry yelled from the storefront.

Jason frowned as he felt his stomach lurch. He did not know why but he had a bad feeling about whatever was going on. As he came out from the workshop, his sense was proven to be on point.

One of the guards was hanging up metal tablets on the wall where every customer could see them. Even though he owned the store, he could not prevent this from happening at all. With a grave expression on his face, Jason moved towards the closest tablet to inspect it properly.

'Wanted, Dead or Alive. Black Arrow.' Jason's frown deepened when he saw an accurate carving in the metal below those words that depicted him in his gas mask and other equipment. His eyes wandered down to the next section before he froze in shock. 'For the crime of murdering the Lord's retired guardian Wraith. Bounty, twenty iron credits!'

That was the equivalent of two thousand copper credits! Even though Jason could be considered rich at the moment compared to the majority of folks in Highrise. His wealth was only a little over one Iron credits worth right now! He was almost tempted to turn himself in for the reward!

Jason groaned as he realised the entire town would now be against him. However, what had really caught his attention was the part about Wraith having been one of the Lord's Guardians. The way it was worded made it clear that he used to be one of the five pillars at some point. If he had been a regular guardian, they would have just said retired guardian instead!

Jason could not think of a curse that was profound enough to express how he felt right now. This bounty tablet marked him as an enemy of the Lord for the rest of his life! The only good point was that nobody knew who it was beneath that mask!

'It seems like I'm going to have to move up my plans. I can't stay in the Lord's area of influence for too long in case they discover something.' Jason was quite confident that he had masked his tracks during his assaults quite well. However, this bounty would attract professionals who would likely have abilities suited to uncovering their mark!

'I have to set up a hidden base as soon as possible now. I should use the excuse of setting up stores in other towns as my reason for leaving. That will make me less suspicious.' Jason tapped his chin a few times as he stared at the bounty tablet. 'I'll still have to return to provide new items for theatre, though. Or maybe I can hire someone to deliver them.'

"Don't you think you leave schematics behind for your Gramps to follow? That way, he won't run out of stock in your absence." Syssie whispered while glaring at the tablet alongside him.

"That's not a bad idea. I just have to be prepared for the geezer to skim the profits.' Jason nodded as he considered her proposal. 'Let's face it, if he has a way to make more than his fair share, he'll definitely do it.'

Syssie chuckled at those words before her expression became serious again. "You better get a move on then. We still have to take care of my failing implant, and we don't know how long it will take to travel to other places."

Jason's expression became annoyed as she said that. There was indeed a lot for him to do before they could make a run… Ahem… Go on their business trip. He was definitely not running from this at all!

'I guess I'll take a look at what else I can make or upgrade with the Electrical Engineering Skill.' Jason's eyes flashed with excitement. Now that he was thinking of making something new again, his personality flipped like a switch. All of his worries seemed to drain away as he marched back into his workshop under Harry's confused gaze.

'What should I start with first? Definitely upgrades, so it's either the Multi-Tool or the Riot.' Jason was struggling to contain his excitement as various new schematics rushed through his brain. 'Hm, looks like I should do the Multi-Tool first. Its upgrade looks promising, and it could be useful when making the other stuff.'

Jason had made up his mind at this point and began to pull out the different things that he would need. He discovered that he would have a use for some of the spare batteries he had picked up a while ago, which made him delighted!

Jason moved around the workshop like a well-oiled machine. There were no wasted movements at all as he slowly moulded the components to his needs. As the new and improved Multi-Tool took shape, Jason realised that he had a task to perform that he was not looking forward to.

His eyes darted to his nemesis as his arms trembled when he remembered the pain it caused! Jason took hold and slowly approached as if he did not want to startle it. He carefully set up the batteries before his hand took ahold of the handle, and then…

He spun the hand-crank furiously as he tried to inject a charge into the dead batteries! His muscles screamed at him to stop before the pain could come from that repetitive motion! 'I swear, I'm going to have to create an upgrade for this too! I am not going to keep putting myself through this!

Tears began to well up in his eyes as he spun the crank furiously. He wanted to test out the new Multi-Tool as soon as possible, but that was a pipe dream. It would take a few hours to charge each battery and his new design required three of them! That thought alone made him regret his choice to do the Multi-Tool first! He did not even consider the need for a new recharger!

As the cranking continued, a soft chuckle came from the doorway that led to the store. Jason became distracted because it was definitely a girl that had made that noise! Dani stood there with a slight smile on her face even though her complexion and eyes were red from crying. Jason raised an eyebrow towards her. He had not expected to see her for a few days at least.

"Jason, I need your help…" Dani embarrassedly waved the bounty tablet in the air. "I want to kill this man for taking my father from me!"