Old Factory District, Little Tokyo
Norton hasn’t been very helpful, has he? Your next Mission starts at Sasquatch and Friends, where the exiled member of Troop Bushido has appeared. Her name is 4Kim, and she’s suspicious of Norton’s motives. She overheard Norton mentioning Bryllcream being at the hot dog factory to the south in Old Factory District. You’re dispatched to see if any evidence can be found of Bryllcream there.
When you arrive, you’ll find that Scabs have occupied the factory. You’ll have to search for evidence of Bryllcream while dodging their gunfire. A new Scab unit shows up: the Scab Tosser, who uses Proximity Mines against you. You’ll be able to get this weapon eventually too, but not quite yet. Scab Tossers launch mines on the ground around you, or ahead of you on traversal paths. Keep an eye out for their distinctive red glow and the red reticle around them. There are three pieces of evidence to be found on the hot dog factory grounds: a sword, a hat, and a bugle. These are all out in the open at ground level, the only impediment to retrieving them are the Scabs.
The evidence in hand points strongly to Bryllcream’s recent presence here. 4Kim suggests you look inside the factory. Spend some time skirting the perimeter, looking for a way in, and you’ll realize that there isn’t one. At least not yet. There’s a wrecking ball crane in the northwest corner of the factory’s grounds. Upon approaching the crane, you’ll find a note explaining that the operator took a break to the nearby park in Little Tokyo. Well, that probably doesn’t bode well for that operator, but you need to find the keys to the crane regardless.
The park in question is found in Little Tokyo. You can cross south bridge or the water to get there. In the park, you’ll find that the crane operator’s picnic had a tragic end. Perhaps one of the nearby OD has the set of keys. As you begin your search, a deployment of Fizzco Bots shows up to disturb your search. You’ll have to fight off both Fizzco forces and OD at the same time, and the fracas will attract Gunkers and a Herker too. One nice thing about attacking multiple enemy factions at once is that they’ll war amongst themselves, too. The Herker is where you’ll find the crane keys, so kill it to complete your errand. Clear out the other forces as you desire, then head back southwest to the crane at the hot dog factory.
With crane keys in hand, you’ll be able to take control of the crane. Use the left analog stick to direct the charmingly-decorated wrecking ball and press x to drop it. It will instantly smash anything it nails with a direct hit, and the ball itself can be “dragged” in a chosen direction on the way back up, which will also damage enemies who happen to have missed the initial impact, but are in the way when the ball is being retracted. Grunt OD are not a threat to the crane, but they’ll gorge themselves on the Overcharge spill and eventually bloat into Poppers. Poppers will attempt to damage the crane by rushing it and exploding. Smash OD groups before they can turn into Poppers, and prioritize smashing any Poppers that do get created before they can get near you.
After a while of OD smashing, Herkers will begin to show up too. These brutes are strong enough to attack the crane directly, so crush them as soon as you can. If you miss on a crush attempt versus a Herker, drag the ball through it during the retraction to damage it anyway. Once you’ve cleared all the OD waves, you’ll have room to smash the factory wall by pressing B. Bash the wall in, disembark the crane, and go investigate.
Inside, you’ll face the last gasp of the local Scabs in a pair of Scab Rushers. Kill them and search the interior. You’ll find a Smartphone collectible and Bryllcream’s journal! Bryllcream wrote that he was headed to a meeting with Norton at a diner called Hepcat’s. Confronted with this information, Norton himself says that Bryllcream never showed up. It’s time to head to this Hepcat’s Diner to look for clues.
Rewards
Complete “Hot Dog!” to unlock the Quest “To Cure a Case of Scabs” and Traversal Challenge #7.
You also have the Murderang now, a weapon strong against robots. This is good bit of luck, since Fizzco Bots will be increasingly common going forward. Murderang is a little quirky compared to many weapons, but it bounces from target to target like High Fidelity, and has essentially unlimited ammunition. It can be a reliable sidearm in any situation, especially if you think of it almost like a long-range melee attack. Also note that Two Hat Jack begins selling the Proximity Mine launcher, another deployable. Like any other deployable, it’s easy to recommend a fire-and-forget source of heavy damage, but it won’t be useful for this very next Mission, one of the game’s fastest-traveling. So you won’t be missing out if you hold out on your Proximity Mine purchase for now.