The Rise Of A Porter

Three days later, in Los Angeles, California... 

It was raining and Arnold loved the rain. Everything about the rain. The whispering hum as sheets of precipitation plummeted to the water-forsaken ground, the often unanticipated flashes of lightning or the rolls of ominous thunder. He loved it all. 

The rain was falling steadily without let up since before he woke up. Outside the summer flowers and leaves dropped under the weight of the water droplets. He had spent so much time inside the void lately that he'd almost forgotten this feeling, the cool freshness in the breeze. But it wasn't the breeze coming from outside. But by the fan in the apartment. 

Arnold stirred behind his closed eyelids, his mind ceasing dream-mode to bring him back to reality. At first, he was slightly confused. He heard the fan rotating at full speed, yet he knew he didn't turn it on before bed. Instead of confusion, a slow smile crept over his face as he turned around. 

Nina was sleeping like a baby in his arms. Smiling peacefully in her dreams. He brushed a strand of hair off her face and tucked it behind her ear, all while smiling himself. 

They arrived back late last night. It took Arnold lesser time than he thought he'd need to settle the important matters in the base and make a plan. He needed to make sure the residents under his refuge were safe while he took care of things in the swamp. Various defence mechanisms had been installed across all of the three bases in zone 4. Sentry guns were the primary defence but Arnold also made around 200 automatons along with the soldiers to defend the zone in his absence. 

After the affairs were settled, he set out to make plans with Talos, Nina and Nicole. Well, he only needed Talos for the purpose but since Nina and Nicole were to play important roles in the assault, Arnold decided it would be better if Talos explained them the plan by himself.

The planning etc took a day and a half, and the rest of the day Arnold spent in the domain. Making a new weapon. He gave the vindicator to Talos and he never intended to take it back from him. Also, he had god-tier materials in his vault. It'd be a waste not to forge a new weapon with them. 

It took him the rest of the day to make something similar to the vindicators but only more powerful. Arnold was even biased to claim that this new weapon of his was his greatest creation ever (After Talos, of course). 

What was the result of hours of labour?

This:

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• [?????]: A divine handgun carved off of the bones of The dragon Goddess, Tiamut. Upon the creation of this handgun, it was further enhanced by its creator. This Handgun is a true work of art having skills and abilities that no one had ever seen before. A perfect weapon designed to kill any being with ease. 

Grade: Cosmic A

Strength (STR) : + 200

Weapon Type: Dual Handguns

Weight : 1.3 kg

Range: 100 m (User's accuracy can increase the range up to 500 m.) 

Additional effect : [Gun-Fu] - Since these dual handguns were forged from the hand bones of dragon goddess, they are robust and it's impossible to break them using any means known to the mortals. Thus these guns are not only effective in fighting mid-range battles, they can also be used as excellent weapons for close combat. (Strength increases by 5% when indulged in close combat.) 

Additional effect : [Expel] - Firing the bullet has one in three chance of knocking the enemy's weapon out of their hand. Once the weapon is knocked out of their hands, the target goes into a state of confusion for 2 seconds. Dealing damage to the enemy while they're confused would deal additional damage of 2% of their max HP. 

Destroyer class sync abilities unlocked! 

Additional effect : [Karma] - When facing off against enemies deemed *Evil* by the system, the user gains the ability to one-shot the target. The only condition being that the target must be at least 10 levels above the user. The ability is useless if the target if 20 levels above the user. Killing the target would give the user one of the following:

• Random increase in stats. 

• Random increase in attributes. 

• Forging Material Box. 

• Hidden Rewards. 

Additional effect: [Will of a Paladin] - Killing something would fill the destroyer gauge. Once full, the destroyer class would upgrade and a new feature would unlock: [Body Modifications].

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Not only did the gun itself had awesome abilities, for some reason it unlocked something called, "Destroyer class sync abilities". To be honest, Arnold couldn't make the head and the tail of the abilities but he knew, if the system marked someone to be evil, he needed to kill them. The rewards were too hard to pass on. 

Then there was the second ability, [Will of the paladin], he didn't know what kind of body modifications the system was talking about. But Arnold was hopeful they were something he'd need to fight the godly enemies that were already on to him. All thanks to Tiamut... 

On the positive side, the more godly enemies he had to face and kill, the more exp and materials he'd get for making even stronger weapons and gears. Hell, he could even equip his summons and eventually make a God killing army. He liked the sound of it. But he had an issue that required his immediate attention. An issue appeared as soon as he created the new handguns. Even now the issue was right in front of his eyes. 

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Please name your new creation. 

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He had no idea what should he name the guns!

He wanted to give them a name that'd strike fear in the hearts of the enemy. A name more badass than the Vindicator. He thought and thought... But nothing came to his mind. 

< May I suggest a name? >

"Sure... Nothing can be weirder than the names I've been thinking of."

< Since the handguns could be considered to be a... Device, for punishing the sinners. Would you like to name it "The priest"? >

"Thanks... For proving me wrong that nothing could be weirder than the names I was thinking." Arnold waved his hand around in disapproval, "We aren't living in the '80s anymore. Moreover, priests don't punish anyone. They forgive them. I need something modern... Wait... Sin... I can do something with that word... How about, 'Cardinal's Sin'?"

System-sama remained silent. There was no point arguing with the user anymore. Once he wants to do something, he'll do it regardless of how absurd or illogical it might be. Certainly, the name Arnold suggested didn't belong to the 80s. It belonged to 1500s.

All those points invest to increase his intelligence... Wasted.

****

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Confirmed. 

[Cardinal's Sin] blueprint added in the database. 

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Arnold nodded, clearly proud of himself. Now that his woes were taken care of, he needed to head out to the syndicate headquarters along with Nina. Today was the day they move out to the swamps and tomorrow they'll commence their attack. 

He woke Nina up with a kiss as she mumbled, "I could get used to waking up like this."

"I won't mind if you do." Arnold smiled and headed towards the shower. 

Twenty minutes later, they were all set to head out to the HQ. To say that Arnold was surprised by what he saw would be an understatement. More than ten thousand warriors had been assembled outside the headquarters. These were all the people who met Arnold's criteria. 

They all were above Rank C. All were professionals and could defend themselves against stronger foes. And last but not the least, none of them were vegans or vegetarians. He was glad that so many people were trusted his leadership but it would be a pain in the ass to transport so many people at once, but he was positive he could pull it off. 

There were a lot of familiar faces there, Nicole, Johnny, Kolt, Azyriah and many more. Everyone was already in gears Arnold provided to the syndicate. 

The ground trembled as the army of 10,000 simultaneously performed a salute to welcome their leader, Arnold Ling. The sheer size of this army was enough to make any enemy tremble in fear. Yet they were all afraid of one person... Their leader himself.

The news channels had already portrayed Arnold in a bad light and it was enough for the soldiers to be cautious around him, much to Arnold's dismay. 

At a glance Arnold knew, the army lacked unity, but despite their differences, they do share the same goal: To crush the enemy, enjoy doing it while it lasts and make it out alive of the hell hole known as the swamp. 

But the common goal wasn't enough to ensure discipline within the army itself. He had only been there for a few minutes and there were quite a few ominous looks on him. Especially from Andrex and his family members. He needed to do something to establish authority over them and it didn't take long for him to do so.