The Legendary Junkmaster

Chapter 39: Red Steel Gang (4)

Sam eventually left with a downtrodden expression after Jason answered her follow questions. They were mainly focused on what he planned to sell then if he did not intend to create Primals for some time. Although she seemed to have given up, Jason noticed several of her guards had stayed behind with their tents for now.

Jason could guess that Sam did not fully believe him. These people were probably left behind to buy any Primals that he happened to sell when the store opened. 'Tsk, I didn't think she would go that far!'

Suddenly the sound of clapping came from behind him. As he turned around, Dani was wearing an amused expression as she seemed to stare at him in a new light!

"That was impressive! And thanks for sticking up for me!" Dani blushed as she offered him her thanks. "You're surprisingly suited for this line of work, aren't you? See, it's not all bad that you didn't end up with a mutation that you wanted."

Jason could only shrug his shoulders helplessly as she tried to praise him. His bright blue eyes seemed to hide some sadness behind them. Dani mistook this for him, still regretting not gaining a powerful ability, while he was actually feeling sad that he could not tell her the truth about what his mutation actually was.

"Well, that should be the last we see of her for now. Don't you think you should check in with your parents and let them know you're ok?" Jason smiled warmly at Dani.

"Ah, shit! That's right! I'll catch up with you later!" Dani threw her arms around him in a tight hug before running off.

Jason chuckled at the sight before he remembered something. 'I wonder what Gramps told her parents that made them allow her to come outside of Town?' The bad feeling that he had when they first set off from Dani's apartment suddenly made a triumphant return. 'She'll be fine Right?'

"Hard to say." Syssie chuckled as she stared at Dani's back, disappearing into the distance. "Your Gramps is a tricky one."

"True. But I'm sure she'll catch on quick to whatever crap he fed them." Jason laughed while feeling grateful that he could talk openly with Syssie again now that they were alone. "Let's not do anything like that again soon."

"I second that!" Syssie chuckled. It had felt much worse for her when they were in danger since she was relegated to being nothing more than a passenger along for the ride. It was surprisingly frustrating to discover that there was nothing that she could do in that situation.

Jason sighed in relief now that he could properly relax. He slumped down into the armchair as he glanced around his store. Soon, this place would be packed with people rushing to buy his wares. He smiled lightly as he thought about his hard work paying off. Just now, there was nothing for him to do. Harry had not returned from the clerk's office yet with his much-needed plants.

So it only seemed fitting for him to enjoy this small measure of time while he could. Just as he was starting to feel comfortable, Harry finally showed his face in the doorway. Jason cursed at Harry's sense of timing.

"I heard from Raymond what happened. What did you promise that woman?" Harry asked with a concerned expression as he dumped a bag full of plants on the counter.

"Nothing," Jason replied as he got up to take a look at what they had gained. "I just told her to speak with you instead."

Harry's expression sank as he realised his grandson had used him as a scapegoat. Jason chuckled as he noticed that Harry did not seem keen on dealing with this particular problem either.

"You'll have a busy day tomorrow Gramps, why don't you go home and get some rest. There's nothing that you can do here for now anyway." Jason praised himself for how generous he was being. He actually just wanted to make sure that Harry could not use being tired as an excuse to shift some work onto him when the store opened.

Harry's eyes practically sparkled at the thought of actually getting some time off! "You sure? I don't want to leave you if there's something that I can do."

"Well, actually" Jason began as if he was considering something.

"Excellent!" harry sharply cut him off before he could say anything else. "I'll leave everything in your capable hands! See you at home, kid."

Harry scampered off faster than if someone had shoved a broom up his arse. Jason stared after him, unsurprised at how shameless the old geezer was. 'Now, with him out of the way, I can finally get to work!'

Jason's eyes sparkled as he took the bag of plants into the workshop. The first thing he had to do was organise his gains. That way, he could properly plan out how much time he had to spend on each of his new would-be creations.

As the piles slowly grew, Jason finally gained some insight into how well the expedition had gone. 'This will be more than enough! We should be able to last for a while with this!' Jason nodded with glee as he began to prepare the glass beakers and containers that he had previously bought.

He rubbed his hands together as he felt some excitement growing in his chest. He was eager to find out if he could gain any PP this time around.

Syssie smiled with pride as she watched Jason buzz around the workshop energetically. From lighting a fire to heat up some water to meticulously picking petals from the flowers. Jason seemed to be fully immersed in an environment specifically created for him.

From time to time, she would chuckle as Jason cursed in his mind whenever he nearly made a mistake. Wisps of different coloured smoke slowly rose from a few containers while foul and pleasing fragrances wafted through the air. Syssie's nose crinkled cutely at the strange mixture of smells.

Since she did not have a natural nose of her own, she was tapping into Jason's brain and how it was processing the different stimuli. It was invigorating at first, but Syssie soon found that the violent concoction of smells had begun to annoy her. She quickly terminated her connection with that sense as she limited herself to watching Jason work.

As time passed, some of the liquids became solid, while others took on a creamy texture. Even more, remained in a liquid state, but they were undoubtedly colourful now. It was hard to tell that most of these things used only water and flowers. Though some of them had been combined to create new items with different effects from the original two.

Jason worked furiously to create a large volume of goods as quickly as possible. He suddenly placed a container on the worktop as he glanced outside. The sun had set some time ago, and there was no telling how much time he had left. 'I can't open the shop without having some Multitools. I'll need to leave at this for now if I want to have some ready by morning.'

"No rest for the wicked?" Syssie teased from the sidelines as she glanced at the solids that were still forming inside a few glass trays.

"You could say that." Jason nodded as he rubbed his eyes. 'Note to self. Check if there's a way to create some proper light. Working by the light of a fire is killing my eyes!'

Jason's eyes felt strained. That was to be expected since the fire he had lit earlier only gave off a small amount of light. It was only made worse when he had to stand between it and whatever he was working on!

"Let's get some air. I need a break." Jason sighed as he walked towards the front of the store.

As he opened the door, his eyes suddenly went wide! A mass of bodies suddenly tried to force their way inside! Jason yelped as he struggled to get everyone under control.

"We're not open yet!" He kept shouting as his throat grew sore. Personally, he was shocked that everyone that had queued up was wide awake, waiting for that moment where they could finally charge inside!

When the crowd realised it was a false alarm, they calmed down enough to quickly assert their position in the queue again. Jason sighed as he stepped out into the cool night air. It did not take long for his mood to be ruined. Several gazes were fixed on him like they were hawks. Needless to say, the offending eyes belonged to Sam's lackeys that she had left behind.

'Maybe I should consider some countermeasures. It seems like Ms Sam might even resort to violence to get what she wants.' Jason stroked his jaw as he got lost in his thoughts. The crowd could feel the tension between Jason and this group. Silently, they hoped that Sam's group would not try anything tomorrow. Otherwise, they might have ended up waiting for nothing.