Chapter 173: A Fully Loaded Haul
Clearly, these were standard U.S. military weapon crates.
After confirming he had found the right place, William scanned the surroundings carefully—no personnel, no cameras in the corners of the ceiling.
Only then did he use [Metal Manipulation] to unscrew the four bolts securing the vent.
He removed the grate and slipped down into the warehouse.
Once inside, he loosely set the vent cover back into place.
Whether it was overconfidence or sheer negligence…
the U.S. military hadn't installed any cameras inside the warehouse.
That made things far easier.
If there had been cameras, he would've needed to disable them first—risking alerting the stationed personnel and complicating his escape.
Landing silently, William moved quickly to the nearest crate and pried it open.
Inside—
M4, M9, Mk18, Mk25, Mk24, M1911, M16, M249, M240, HK MP5, MAC-10, M1014, M110, MSR, M14…
A full spectrum of American firearms.
Carbines, machine guns, sniper rifles, pistols, shotguns—
even a wide array of attachments.
Practically every category of weapon the U.S. had ever fielded was here.
Without hesitation, William began registering every firearm model he didn't already have into the [Arms Marketplace].
This warehouse alone—focused primarily on firearms—was enough to fulfill Nando's order.
The man hadn't asked for much anyway.
Just a batch of carbines, a few sniper rifles, and some heavy machine guns—no specific models required.
But after breaking into a military base…
there was no way William would settle for just that.
Once he finished cataloging the weapons, he slipped back into the ventilation shaft.
Using the duct system, he moved into adjacent warehouses.
Each storage unit was secured with separate access controls, but thanks to [Metal Manipulation], he could bypass everything by traveling through the vents.
For an ordinary person, even removing the vent grates would create noise.
And the base's ventilation design had given soldiers a false sense of security—
no one would attempt entry through a system filled with high-speed industrial fans.
Unless they had a death wish.
Fortunately, internal vent security was minimal.
And while the ducts were narrow, William's vampire form made navigation manageable.
Before long, he had swept through multiple warehouses.
He found:
Grenades,
Individual combat systems,
Body armor, helmets,
Even military rations in bulk.
But the real prize came in a massive storage hangar.
There—
he saw it.
M1A2 SEP main battle tanks.
All V3 variants.
The [Arms Marketplace] system confirmed the details—William himself wouldn't have recognized them.
Alongside them:
M10 light tanks,
Older M1A1 units,
And a full array of supporting equipment—
ammunition, mounted weapons, maintenance gear…
Everything required for armored warfare logistics was present.
Transport vehicles were also parked nearby.
Naturally—
William took it all.
But just as he was about to leave, something caught his attention.
In one corner of the hangar—
a tank covered with a tarp.
Curiosity got the better of him.
He reached out and touched it.
The system responded instantly.
M1E3 Abrams.
A prototype—
the next-generation main battle tank currently under development by the U.S. military.
"So this is here for testing…"
William's eyes lit up.
This wasn't just valuable.
This was massive.
A prototype of America's next-gen tank—
every country in the world would want a piece of this.
Even U.S. allies wouldn't be able to resist the temptation.
Without hesitation, he registered the M1E3 into the [Arms Marketplace].
After finishing this warehouse, William repeated the process—
slipping back into the vents and heading toward yet another massive storage facility nearby.
This next warehouse…
was on an entirely different level.
Inside were rows upon rows of missile launcher vehicles.
Surface-to-air.
Surface-to-ground.
Defensive systems. Offensive platforms.
Everything.
Under the identification of the [Arms Marketplace] system, even William felt a flicker of shock.
These weren't just valuable—
they were goldmines.
In places like Africa, this kind of hardware would sell for astronomical prices.
Without the slightest hesitation, he registered every single piece into the system—whether he needed it or not.
Tonight, it was safe to say—
William had hit the jackpot.
After carefully sweeping through the remaining rooms to ensure nothing was missed, he finally retraced his steps.
He slipped out of the base the same way he came in—
silent, unseen, leaving no trace.
Before leaving, he even restored everything:
The ventilation grate was reinstalled.
The severed power line inside the fan was temporarily reconnected using [Metal Manipulation].
By the time anyone noticed something was off—
who knew how long it would be?
And since nothing had physically gone missing from the base…
chances were, no one would suspect anything anytime soon.
Back in his AMG, William didn't linger.
He started the engine and headed straight for Chicago.
Over an hour later, as he approached the northern outskirts of the city, he pulled out his phone and called Steve.
Before going to see Estefania, he needed to confirm one thing—
whether her husband was home.
If Steve was around, things could get… inconvenient.
Steve, for all his flaws, wouldn't keep secrets from Nando.
And unlike before, he wasn't obsessing over Fiona anymore.
There was no reason for him to act against Nando's plans.
Meanwhile, inside a convenience store—
Steve was in a foul mood, hauling boxes in the back storage room.
Earlier, he'd been working the register.
But after getting into an argument with a customer, the manager had kicked him to the back to do manual labor.
It pissed him off.
But he didn't dare go back to stealing cars or messing with drugs anymore.
Ado had been tailing him every single day—driving a Cadillac, keeping constant watch.
He didn't have a single chance to slip up.
"Fuck…"
Steve slammed his fist against a shelf.
This kind of life—
it was suffocating.
Just then, his brand-new iPhone 4 rang.
He glanced at the screen.
William.
He picked up.
"Yeah? William? What do you want?"
"Where are you right now?" William asked directly, ignoring the question.
Steve glanced around instinctively.
Instead of answering, he deflected:
"What's going on?"
"Answer the question first."
Steve mouthed another silent fuck before giving in.
"I'm at work. What do you need?"