Chapter 378 - 378

The rest of the morning went by fast. However the Merchant did call for Adam personally and handed him off a small note.

Opening the note Adam noticed it was from Madame Aquamarine.

Dear, Adam Baxter

How are you dear Hero? Well, I hope. It seems some of our mutual enemies have taken up residence at an old factory on the road none too far from your new Vault residence. I have the intention of sending my merchants to your little home from time to time but so long as those zealous folk reside along the road I may be unable to send them off safely. I have included the coordinates of the base. If you would kindly handle them for us both I would be ever so grateful.

Your not-so-secret Admirer, Madame Aquamarine

Aside from the flirting that would probably make Eve jealous, if this was actually a note from Madame Aquamarine then this provided a chance to open up actual trade routes with the Pier, arguably Chicago's second most populous and rich settlement with regular shipments from a woman who wanted to be Adam's ally. Perhaps like Mr. Cantelli she would change her tune when the truth about him being a clone came out, but he had strong suspicions she already knew. But unlike Mr. Cantelli she was not waging a social war against him. Even if she was still a high class drug kingpin, having friends in high places was always nice.

Besides all of that he understood the subtext of what she was telling him. Cultists. There were still cultists in Chicago.

Adam was not naive enough to have assumed they killed every last cultist when they attacked with War. After all, part of the plan relied on the cult having their forces spread out to conquer more territory in Chicago. Though a part of him did hope that the remnants would have left Chicago when their base of operations was wiped out. Still optimism rarely panned out.

The Cult was dangerous, and if there were remnants remaining in Chicago he wanted to deal with it. In addition, the promise of regular trade caravans from The Pier was a massive boon. They had something of a fish farm now, but a few fish from the river hardly qualified for comparison to the volume and variety of fish The Pier brought in. Besides, according to Jefferson, the fish wouldn't be ready to begin farming for at least half a year. Besides, the less Adam had to leave the Vault to make food purchases the better. He had enough on his plate as is.

All of this to say, Adam had more than enough incentive to take her at her word and wipe out these remaining cultists. Of course there was a chance that this was a trap planned by her or some other party but that seemed incredibly foolish. Even Adam was aware of how much firepower he commanded with his full team. No one less than an actual army would be capable of challenging him. Though that didn't mean he didn't need to be cautious. After all these were all his friends, even if victory was assured, which it wasn't, that didn't mean they can't suffer casualties. Anyone dying would be a huge loss so avoiding that was of primary concern.

Still, this was an opportunity to do some more good and Adam was quick to jump on it. Adam gathered up his full crew, practically a battle group of his own, and began to load them all into the APC. With the entire group it was a bit cramped but they made it work, though just barely. They would not be able to bring anything back with them if they were all locked in the back like this. It meant Adam would either need to forgo getting loot or have everyone walk back with loot loaded in the back of the APC. Between the two he would rather make some money off this trip. Still this was a bit of a wake-up call. Adam had begun to realize that, while the APC was an excellent combat vehicle and great for good transport, it was not good at doing both at once. He might need to look into getting a second, dedicated, transport vehicle. Either for people or for goods. He had a few ideas but this was not a problem for right now.

There were some considerations on who to bring. Perhaps some of the Vault Guard, for instance. However their training was not yet complete. Cortland was also still receiving separate leadership training from Paxton on the side in addition to combat training. In addition they were primarily for home defense. Scouting around the immediate area was no issue, but they were not there to join Adam on his missions. That was what he and his friends were for. They were the… strike force, if you will. Besides, the back of the APC was cramped enough as it was. The reason for that, primarily, being Hades.

Hades had been on a journey of self discovery recently, though Adam had been too preoccupied to watch over him, the Vault Residents had been kind enough to help him explore himself, as slow as it was. Despite the killing potential that Hades had, Adam was more concerned with his freedom of choice in matters, now that he was growing self-aware. Certainly some might say that defeated the whole purpose of taking him in from the start, however circumstances beyond Adam's control intervened. Still, despite his freedom of choice, when presented the option to join or stay, Hades seemed to join without hesitation. Only stating it 'was his duty'. Adam was not about to argue, his help would be appreciated, even if the rockets he could supply to Hades were in short supply.

Still, with the team loaded up in the APC, bags packed both for a fight and a looting run Adam set off by afternoon to hopefully finish off the cultists once and for all.