Chapter 238: Chapter 238: Foreign Forces

After saying farewell to Hainerd and Lucina, Chen Ke decided to visit the gun store and meet with Pihom. He was not only dealing with the results of the bank heist that fetched 200 million pink union coins, but Chen Ke also had two other issues he wanted to discuss with Pihom.

The first was about weapons and ammunition.

Chen Ke had three Spiritual Ability Pistols; he had given one to Lucina and still held two in his possession. All three guns were brought over from the 2006 timeline, and he wasn’t sure if the Administration Bureau in this world could detect their existence.

Parker was also a time traveler, and his guns could be detected by the Administration Bureau, but his circumstances were not quite the same as in 2006, and Chen Ke considered finding time to test them out…

Since Lucina wasn’t a Spiritual Ability User, the gun was merely a toy in her hands, so Chen Ke didn’t worry about the Administration Bureau targeting her.

He had the guns, but the bullets were a trouble. Back in the 2006 world, Chen Ke had purposely packed a big bag of Punishment bullets… but he still encountered some problems, which prevented him from successfully bringing them along…

He needed to ask Pihom if there was a way to get some Administration Bureau bullets…

As for standard pistols, he only had a Glock 17. This gun worked fine, but it wasn’t his, and it had been modified for left-handed use, making it awkward for Chen Ke to handle.

He needed a new, customized pistol that was discreet, preferably with a built-in silencer to save the hassle of manually detaching it.

The second thing was about the green Holy Diamond…

Yasla and Si’s consortium both considered it a precious treasure. Chen Ke was unable to identify or summon it; it seemed to be an exceptional item. It was currently stored in the courier’s safehouse, and Chen Ke wanted to know Pihom’s plans for it.

Without much further ado, a taxi quickly took Chen Ke from Deep Anchor District to Gun Tie District. He pushed open the door to the gun store and saw Pihom at the counter, polishing his antique gun.

When Pihom saw Chen Ke, he did not show much reaction, continuing to examine the black bearded flintlock as if it were a piece of art.

“Pihom, I saw the message,” Chen Ke said.

“Where have you been these past few days? You weren’t in the service area when I called,” Pihom asked.

“It’s a long story, I ran into some old foes. Next time I’ll give you a heads-up…” Chen Ke replied.

“I’m not blaming you, Chen Ke, it’s just… you know, sometimes we also need to disappear for a while. The place you were hiding these last few days was quite something; no one could find you… If you have any more of those spots… maybe you could share…” Pihom adjusted his glasses and said.

“Uh… you guys definitely wouldn’t want to go there… If I find a better place than that, I’ll let you know,” Chen Ke chuckled.

“Okay… I’ll get straight to the point, Chen Ke. First, I have to mildly apologize to you because that money from the bank robbery… there’s been a complication in processing it, and it might take a bit longer to split the cash,” Pihom said.

“Oh? What’s the issue?” Chen Ke asked.

“You probably haven’t had time to watch TV these past few days… and you don’t trade stocks, right?” Pihom asked.

“Let’s hear it; I’m not very knowledgeable about those things,” Chen Ke shrugged.

Before traveling through time, he was just a poor guy, how could he afford to trade stocks and manage finances?

“Wall Street has been quite troubled lately, as if it’s been impacted by something… Many stocks in the Spiritual Ability and tech giants have dropped quite a bit,” Pihom explained.

“Stocks go up and down, isn’t that normal? Besides, many times it’s all manipulated… You didn’t use that money to trade stocks and then took a loss, did you?” Chen Ke worriedly asked.

He didn’t believe that Pihom would be so unprofessional as to stock trade with the money he had just stolen… without even laundering it…

“You’re really joking around, Chen Ke… There are foreign forces shorting the stock market of the United Federation, and it’s not just that, many Spiritual Ability Enterprises have also received acquisition invitations from consortiums of the Fei Huang Republic… This matter is not simple,” Pihom said.

Chen Ke didn’t know what the Fei Huang Republic was up to, but he had indeed encountered some matters during his previous assassination tasks.

It seemed like the cooperation agreements between the Spiritual Businesses of the United Federation were being split by the Asian consortiums.

“What does this have to do with our money laundering?” Chen Ke asked.

“The value of union coins has plummeted these past few days… To combat the economic warfare of foreign forces, the federal government has recently been very sensitive about the flow of money, so the channels for laundering money have all quieted down,” Pihom shook his head as he spoke.

“Do you think this is a state action?” Chen Ke asked.

“I don’t know, how would I know about that… But economic wars initiated by states are generally about imposing taxes on each other… But this time it’s completely different, it seems more like corporate behavior…” Pihom said.

“Well, there’s no rush with the money… I still have some savings… but you’ve got to do me a favor, I need some guns and bullets,” Chen Ke said.

“That’s hardly a favor, Chen Ke! I’ve got plenty of guns and bullets here,” Pihom laughed.

“I need a pistol… with a built-in silencer. And not too big,” Chen Ke said.

Having heard this, Pihom bowed his head and pondered for a while, as if searching his memory for a weapon that met Chen Ke’s requirements.

After a while, he frowned and looked at Chen Ke, “There aren’t many pistols with built-in silencers… let alone the smaller kind… What do you need that kind of pistol for… assassination?”

“A personal preference, Pihom… I like quieter weapons,” Chen Ke shrugged.

“There are actually two guns that meet your requirements… and I just happen to have them… Follow me inside,” Pihom said, walking into the safe house.

Chen Ke followed closely behind, going with Pihom to the gun armory of the safe house. Today the safe house was empty, both Hall and Priskin were out, everyone had just pulled off a big job and were laying low, gathering their energy.

Pihom took out two black boxes from a crate, which housed two very old-looking pistols, judging from their aged appearance and design style, these guns must have been around for quite some time.

Chen Ke stood aside, with his arms crossed, inspecting the weapons in Pihom’s hands, finding it difficult to speak.

“These two guns are quite old, but they are both agent pistols with built-in silencers… Of course, in this condition, they obviously can’t be used,” Pihom said as he picked up one of the crude pistols and handed it to Chen Ke.

Chen Ke took the gun and found it was like two pipes joined together, very uncomfortable to hold, and the trigger was a bent iron ring, much like a plastic water gun.

“This gun is called the Willlord MKII silencer pistol, developed during World War II, with only over 2,000 pieces produced. It’s quite a legendary old gun, and I had a hard time getting one,” Pihom boasted.

“Pihom, I wanted a killing weapon… not a collector’s item…” Chen Ke spread his hands.

“I know, I wasn’t suggesting you just take it like that… Priskin has been quite idle recently, he could customize it for you…” Pihom said.

“Oh… did you ask him?” Chen Ke asked.

“Pick the one you like, and I’ll ask him,” Pihom smiled, picking up the other gun and handing it to Chen Ke.

Chen Ke took the gun, which looked much more normal compared to the Willlord MKII, with a very distinctive Suluo style, and the handle was even decorated with a red star…