Chapter 364 - 340: California’s Gun Control, Hawkeye’s Friend

Caviar smiled and said, "Sam’s pretty capable. Last time we were in Ukraine, we had him send some special weapons over, and he actually pulled it off. They were a bit expensive, but the quality was solid."

Hawkeye laughed. "I just threw the idea out there. I didn’t think he’d actually be able to find a source."

Wu Yun stood up, stretched, and asked curiously, "What happened to all your old gear!?"

Caviar said nonchalantly, "We either sold our gear secondhand or left the useful stuff for Sickle."

At the mention of this, Hawkeye winced. "I didn’t think we’d be able to bring the drones to Huaxia, so I ended up giving them all to Sickle! My US$1,500 drone... Some bastard is probably wrecking it right now!"

Da Xiong slapped Hawkeye on the shoulder with a hand the size of a fan. "Give me a break! You’re acting all hard done by when you made out like a bandit! Did you bring the two DJI drones the boss bought you? Let me play with them. I want to do some recon on that swimming pool! I saw some ’dangerous weapons’ over there when we arrived!"

Hawkeye instinctively glanced at the suitcase by the door, then laughed and cursed, "Fuck that! I don’t feel like getting shot full of holes!"

...

Figueroa Street, on the edge of downtown Los Angeles, was crowded with people and bustling with noise.

"Oh, shit! I haven’t been to Los Angeles in years! Has it gotten this wild?" Hawkeye exclaimed.

Following Hawkeye’s gaze, Wu Yun and Da Xiong looked through the windshield at the vehicle ahead.

They were at a red light, and the lead car Wu Yun was in was stopped behind a Nissan van.

Under the bright sun, a white woman in red hot pants, a white tank top, and a red shoulder bag stood near the double solid line. She exchanged a few words with the van’s driver, did a little spin, and then turned her back to him.

The three of them watched as a hand, clad in a blue shirt sleeve, reached out from the van’s driver’s seat and gave the woman’s shapely rear a squeeze.

The light turned green, and the van in front immediately made a U-turn at the end of the double solid line and pulled over to the side of the road.

"Uh... are they really this brazen nowadays?" Wu Yun wondered aloud as he watched the van driver get out, close his door, and walk toward a nearby building with his arm around the woman.

As if to prove Hawkeye’s point, their vehicle made a left turn onto the main road, and the number of scantily clad women on both sides of the street began to increase, both white and black.

After driving for two minutes, Wu Yun was surprised that he hadn’t seen a single skinny one. They were all curvaceous women, some even excessively so.

The vehicles turned from the main road into an alley. Seeing the two G-Wagens approach, several of the curvaceous women stopped talking and waved at them.

When the G-Wagens slowed, two of the women even started toward them, teetering on their sky-high heels.

Just then, two burly white men in denim jackets walked out of a nearby building. The two women on heels saw them, immediately stopped, and retreated to their original spots.

They had watched as, under the direction of the burly white men, the two G-Wagens drove into the building’s garage, and a rolling door slammed shut behind them.

"Welcome to Sam’s Private Customs! I’m one of Sam’s men, Blacksmith. I’m also in charge of the Los Angeles branch!" A burly white man with a friendly face came forward, chuckling as he greeted the seven people who were getting out of the vehicles.

Hawkeye stepped forward to make the introductions. "Blacksmith, I’m Hawkeye! An old comrade of Sam’s! This is my boss, Mr. Wu, and these are my colleagues."

Perhaps because he knew what line of work Hawkeye was in, Blacksmith’s eyes lit up. ’A major client from the Huaxia People, and he brought bodyguards... Definitely a wealthy man.’

"Mr. Wu, welcome, welcome!"

His brown beard quivered as he spoke, giving him a slightly comical look.

"Blacksmith, Sam probably told you, we’re looking to buy some ’little darlings’ for self-defense, and a few more for a collection!" Hawkeye said, getting straight to the point.

Blacksmith glanced at the bag Wei Wu was carrying and nodded. "Please follow me!"

The group followed Blacksmith and pushed open the back door of the garage.

"BEEP BEEP BEEP..." The alarm on the door went off.

Blacksmith turned to face them and explained, "Sorry, everyone! It’s protocol. I’m going to need you to remove any metal objects you’re carrying."

The group then turned and saw the modified security scanner frame set up behind the door.

The other burly man who had opened the door with Blacksmith checked them. Finding no firearms, he nodded at Blacksmith.

Only then did Blacksmith smile and say, "Alright! Please follow me!"

He then led the way into a courtyard.

Half of the courtyard was covered by a makeshift awning, under which sat various machines and hand tools.

Two shirtless white men were swinging hammers, repeatedly striking a red-hot steel bar.

"CLINK~"

"CLANG~"

The crisp sounds of metal striking metal filled the air.

The burly man from the security check also stripped off his jacket and went to join them.

Blacksmith smiled. "This is my workshop. On the books, it’s a custom blade-making studio. Those three are employees here."

"Private Customs! Blades are part of our custom work, too. Feel free to have a look if you’re interested! My hunting knives and daggers are pretty well-known around Los Angeles!"

Watching Blacksmith start to pitch his products, Hawkeye asked, "Is this also a business that Sam developed?"

Blacksmith said as he walked, "Yes, our business in the United States needs some legitimate industries as a cover. At least in big cities like Los Angeles and Chicago, our blade business brings in decent income."

"To be honest, I’m a partner in this smithy myself."

Wu Yun spoke up. "Blacksmith, let’s see what we came for first. We can look at your work afterward."

Seeing that the boss had spoken, Blacksmith shrugged and smiled. "This way, please!"

With that, he pushed open the door to a large warehouse in the backyard.

He flipped on the lights, revealing the machinery inside. One wall was covered with all sorts of melee weapons. Under the lights, the edges of some blades seemed to glint with a cold light.

"These machines are lathes and planers. If you need, we can even hand-craft our ’little darlings’~ The quality is nothing like those mass-produced jobs. We take custom modification orders, too!" Blacksmith added, never missing a chance to plug his services.

"Follow me!" Blacksmith walked to a lathe, pressed a hidden button, and the lathe slowly moved aside, revealing a conspicuous steel plate on the floor.

CREAK... Blacksmith easily lifted the steel plate, revealing a steel staircase that angled down into a well-lit space below.

"Follow me!" Blacksmith led the way down.

Hawkeye followed close behind, then Wei Wu and Da Xiong.

"Boss! I’ll stay up here. I already told Cao Cao and the others which gun I want!" Caviar said, flashing a tactical folding knife at his waist.

Wu Yun nodded in understanding and followed them down as well.

"CLANK, CLANK, CLANK..."

Their footsteps on the steel stairs echoed throughout the basement.

Wu Yun glanced at the basement’s layout. A wooden partition had been built near the staircase, allowing the sound of footsteps on the stairs to be clearly heard from within the main room.

At the bottom of the stairs, a small door, only wide enough for one person to pass through, was already open.

Wu Yun stepped through the small doorway and found himself in a spacious basement, at least two-thirds the size of the warehouse above.

The ceiling had been specially reinforced. Massive, crisscrossing steel beams spanned the entire basement, supported by several thick steel pillars to prevent a collapse.

The room didn’t feel stuffy in the slightest.

The basement was brightly lit.

Wu Yun then realized that all four walls were covered with all kinds of handguns and rifles. As his eyes scanned the room, he even spotted several anti-materiel rifles mounted with scopes.

"Feel free to look around, or you can just tell me what you’re after!" Blacksmith’s voice pulled Wu Yun from his survey of the room.

Wu Yun saw two formidable-looking white men standing behind Blacksmith, both holding MP5 submachine guns. They were watching Wu Yun’s group warily—or to be more precise, they were staring intently at Wei Wu and Da Xiong.