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  I was in good spirits when I returned to Vaestro’s Restorations, and I think anyone in my position would feel the same. I had collected several of the existing drone corpses that I had left scattered around the block yesterday, and would have already dragged them back to my hideout were it not for the interference of the pair of raindrops on my roof. During my efforts to collect the mechanical beast corpses, I had ample opportunity to get accustomed to the gun that Ji-Ho and Ha-Rin had presented me with.

  Several times during my stay with the pair of siblings, I had considered the merits of killing them, since the engineers knew far more about me than I was comfortable with, though each time I had talked myself out of it for one reason or another. They were friendly, they were respectful, they willingly provided me with food and shelter, and they had gone out of their way to help me understand and navigate this new world I had been reborn into.

  With all that in mind, even I would have needed an exceptionally good reason to betray their trust or slaughter them. I don’t think I have ever been more glad to have not turned on a person as I was that day. The pistol they had made for me, ‘The Conqueror’, was a work of art, and once I had spent a little bit of time getting accustomed to it and the modules it came with, I was utterly in love with the weapon.

  Throughout my life, I have frequently been associated with spears and halberds when I am depicted in painting, story, and song. There is good reason for this, as I have often favored the weapon, especially once I seized Skypiercer from Ding Yuan. However, in these depictions and retellings, it is often left out that I was an archer before ever I was a cavalry commander. The first Qi-based technique I ever learned was my father’s Ten Thousand Arrow Mirage, and I have held a deep love of ranged weaponry ever since.

  Having now had a chance to get used to a gun, I could say with certainty that this was the funnest weapon I had ever laid my hands on. You needed to account for some kickback that drove the pistol upwards when you fired it, or a bit of projectile sway if you were shooting at something out of the optimal range, but I can’t stress enough how much you simply pointed the weapon at what you wanted to die and then pulled the trigger. It was nothing short of amazing, and I was excited to make use of The Conqueror in an actual fight.

  If that wasn’t enough to put me in a fine mood, there was the fact that the pair of siblings had all but demanded they be allowed to work on my bike for me. I think I could have eventually gotten the Chrome Prophet into a working order with the help of Diaochan and the citynet, but it would have taken me weeks, and honestly, there is a certain level of finesse to these sorts of things that can only be acquired through long hours of practical experience.

  The simple fact of the matter is that Ji-Ho and Ha-Rin have that experience, whilst I do not, so not only are they able to get the job done faster, they will get it done to a higher standard. Considering we are talking about what will be my mount, I wanted it built to the highest possible standard available. I had actually returned to just outside Vaestro’s Restorations three times to dump the lifeless scout drone bodies before dragging the small pile inside on my fourth.

  The siblings were happy to receive the potential source of parts, and Ha-Rin got to work tearing salvage out of the drones and feeding them into her Forge Ring Device. Obviously, I didn’t really understand how the item provided to her by her class worked, but it quickly and easily turned pieces of drone into similar but cleaner and more useful parts.

  While she did so, the ForgeFiend idly chatted to me about how for most classes you got a chance to pick a sub-class once you hit level four. She wasn’t sure how it worked for Paradox Incursions like myself, but usually the system would present you with three to six options it had generated based on the way you made use of your existing standard class. Apparently, under rare circumstances, it was even possible for the giant gestalt A.I that ran both the city and the class system to present you with someone entirely unique. I didn’t care if my subclass was special and unique to me, after all, I am Lu Bu. The uniqueness comes from me, not the class. Still, it was an exciting notion that I would soon gain access to new abilities that had been specifically chosen to fit who I was and what I did.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Waiting for the pair of engineers to finish their work on my bike quickly became extremely dull as they frequently had to focus on their sparking tools, or on the spot crafted components to the point where they couldn’t speak to me, but around three hours after I had returned Ji-Ho wiped his brow, shared what is called a fist bump with his sister and declared that the howler bike was now in working order, and almost as powerful a vehicle as it had been when it first rolled off the line. I don’t know what ‘rolling off the line is’, but the important thing was that my Chrome Prophet was ready for use.

  “Alright.” Said a grinning Ji-Ho. “You will probably want to get a proper paint job done so it looks a bit more impressive, but all you need to do is hop on the seat, get your A.I to sync you up so you can power this bad boy, and it will be ready for you to ride.” I also don’t know why he called what was clearly a saddle a seat, but I was far too happy to care. “Once the howler is on a road, you can use the Soul energy provided by the city system, but here in a block, you will need to power it like you do your spear or the lights.”

  He went on to talk about how I should probably make use of some sort of simulation once I was synced up with the bike so that I could get used to the Chrome Prophet without any risk of injury, but I think even Ji-Ho knew I wasn’t going to be doing that. I had spoken to Diaochan at some length on how one piloted a howler, and while I didn’t have any experience with it, I was confident I could master the vehicle enough immediately that I wouldn’t injure myself.

  Striding over to the bike, I ran a hand along its flank and shot a grin to both siblings.

  “Thank you two, you have no idea what this means to me.” I told them with all the sincerity I could muster.

  “Shut up and start the damn thing!” Ha-Rin snapped with amused impatience.

  Still grinning, I climbed into the saddle and placed a hand on each handlebar. Instantly, a window appeared on my HUD asking me if I wanted to synchronize with the bike, and naturally, I selected the yes option. A pulse of power flowed through me, and the engine inside the howler made a series of coughing noises before beginning to roar in a deep and powerful tone.

  “Wait!” Diaochan hissed inside my ears. “ Something's wrong, I can feel it. I’m not alone here, and “ Her voice was cut off as a sound like thunder split the air, power like my own, but not of me began to flow from my chest, down my arms and into the Chrome Prophet. I tried to let go of the bike, tried to move at all but it was impossible. I opened my mouth to yell, but all that came out was a beam of blood red energy that struck the ceiling and then exploded to fall like rain in all directions.

  The siblings shared a look and moved forward to help, but before they could do anything, pieces of scrap from all over the warehouse flew like a metal blizzard towards me, and the bike I was sitting on began to glow that same crimson. The pair of engineers were forced to throw themselves to the ground or risk being torn apart by the metal pieces. Yet strangely, none of them hit me. At the last moment before each piece of scrap impacted with my still form, it would be pulled down to the glowing bike, and somehow absorbed into its form.

  The sound like thunder only grew, and so did the Chrome Prophet as chunk after chunk of metal was pulled into it, and I realized it wasn’t thunder at all. The ground shook like a localized earthquake had taken up residence in Vaestro’s Restorations, and a slow smile forced its way across my features.

  ‘Not thunder, but hoofbeats akin to it.’

  The engine in the bike grew louder and louder, its rumble becoming a high-pitched neighing sound, and energy that was not my own poured from me in the form of red light. Lastly, a half dozen tins of dried or empty paint were pulled by the cyclone of power into the air. There should have been nothing in them, yet as they came close, streams of bright red or chrome gold paint poured from each tin, surging down like rivers of viscous color to cover the vehicle in an immaculate layer of crimson. With a single splash of pure gold on the side that formed into characters from my homeland

  My HUD offered a translation as the howler bike reared up, so only its back wheel remained on the ground, but I didn’t need the translation. I already knew exactly what was now written on the side of the former Chrome Prophets chassis.

  I don't know what you guys know about the Three Kingdoms, or say Dynasty Warriors. If you don't know much let me assure you Lu Bu and Red Hare being together one more is a big buff.

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