Hmm… I'm gonna be honest… I was expecting them to have more stuff considering they took this high risk and high paying job… So they should have been some high ranked Merc, right?

Nope, these guys were dead broke.

The most expensive thing they had was the Power Armour and something tells me they spent all their Credits on this and had no other Credits leftover for anything else.

Welp… At least it won't go to waste since I let Renata eat the Power Armour and we carried the unconscious guys back towards the hotel.

Just as I was wondering how long the power outage would be, the lights flashed on as we approached the elevator and the hum of the air conditioning unit turning on could be heard overhead.

We went over to the lift and as if reading our intentions, it automatically carried us to the first floor where we stepped out with the unconscious assassins carried between us.

One of the officers that had been guarding the door was there and he was in the midst of raising his gun before stopping himself when he realised it was us.

"What are you… Who are those people?" He asked, clearly wary of us.

"You might want to call in your team, tell them that the Mercs your team leader asked for help have already caught the culprits. They can come down to the ground floor to collect them and pay the bounty."

He just stared at us for a good few seconds before he took a step back and moved his head to the side slightly.

"Sir? I got some Mercs down on the lobby floor saying they caught the culprits or something? Err… Yes… White hair? Yes… No sir… There's… Four of them. No, not three… Four. Yes… Understood, sir."

He then turned back to us, "I was told to let you know that they are coming down and for you to wait here."

"Sure? It's not like we have anywhere else to go," I commented.

We dragged the unconscious thieves cum assassins out into the lobby and dumped them in a row, ignoring the stares and whispers from the other hotel guests that happen to be on the ground floor.

Eventually one of the lift doors opened and the police officers entered the lobby, marching over to where we were.

The last guy that I had previously smacked was also being escorted along with them, having gained consciousness sometime during our chase.

The large sized guy whom I had previously assumed to be the team leader came up to me and stared at the four guys we laid on the floor, his face inscrutable behind his helmet.

"I thought there were only three more of them? Where did the extra guy come from?"

"It's a big operation, obviously. The other guy was waiting at the door for them to make their escape so we managed to round all of them up. There's definitely more of them because I heard they were splitting the money amongst the twenty of them so yeah… Everything else is in your hands now."

The guy made a grunting sound before nodding at me, "You'll get the Credits transferred to you once we process these guys. What about the thing they stole?"

I was about to pass it to them when Ries stepped beside me, "You can tell Ruger Dynamics to have a representative contact us for the retrieval reward of their stuff~ In the meantime, we will be in charge of safekeeping it~"

Oh? Is that how it's done, Ries? Or are we extorting from them? Because if we are, then you are an absolute genius, Ries!

The police officer seemed to consider it for a moment before he spoke again, "Fair enough. I assume that you will be contactable through the Mercenary Guild?"

I nodded, "Sure. We'll be staying here anyway. So if they want to come and find us in person, we'll also be here."

"Understood. Have a good day then."

The officers then began to escort the captured thieves out of the hotel, the four I captured having already been cuffed and collared while I was talking to their team leader.

I watched them leave before turning to Ries, "Was that alright?"

Ries gave me a peace sign while grinning mischievously like a cat, "Of course, Boss! These corporations would be extorting us if they could so we should do the same when we get the chance! We helped them save their little secret here so they better be grateful to us~"

Mara then whispered from behind, "If other corporations approach you for it as well, Captain… I would suggest that you weigh the risk and reward before you agree to any trade."

Why would you even expect there to be another corporation approa--

A young woman with purple hair tied up in a ponytail and fins sprouting from the side of her head approached us, her eyes completely black with her irises being red in colour.

She was wearing a business suit that hugged her curves and her heels clicked loudly on the ground as she approached us.

"Greetings. I cannot help but overhear your conversation earlier, Miss Tera. May I please have a chat with you and your party?"

I narrowed my eyes at her, "Who are you supposed to be?"

"I assure you that I am not anyone suspicious. Here is my name card."

I was expecting her to give me a physical card but a small screen popped out in front of her which she pushed towards me.

Err… What was I supposed to do with that?

Thankfully, I didn't need to make a fool out of myself because Ries helped me by pulling out her personal terminal to touch the screen with it.

The holographic screen was then 'absorbed' into it and a bigger screen was projected on top of her personal terminal showing an image of the woman in front of us.

Beside her picture was the name Sofiya and above it was the title Sales Executive.

At the very top of the card was the company name which was revealed to be Nebula Dynamics.

Well… I guess I'm fortunate that I didn't open my mouth earlier when Mara mentioned that other companies might approach us.

She probably understood that we already knew what she wanted and smiled at me, "Could we have a chat, Miss Tera?"

I turned back to the girls, wondering what we should do with this woman.

Amber grinned, "We might as well hear her out? Perhaps back in our room?"

The others also agreed so I guess we're doing this.

"Sure, miss Sofiya. We'll hear what you have to say. We have a suite upstairs so let's talk there," I suggested.

"Please, Miss Tera. Just call me Sofiya. And much appreciated."

We left the lobby and headed to the lift lobby again, taking the elevator up to our floor with the woman.

"Have you heard of our company, Miss Tera?" She asked during our elevator ride, clearly trying to make small talk.

"I have heard of your company but I am not that familiar with your products."

"That's ok, we mainly specialise in heavy machinery and tech particularly ballistic weapons, armour platings, factory machinery, land bound vehicles and industrial vehicles and machines. If you would like to make any purchase of our products, you can contact me and I will make sure that you have the best prices and also priority access to our newest products."

"Hmm… I'll keep that in mind the next time I'm shopping for something in that category."

"Of course, Miss Tera. We would be happy to do business with someone as competent as you and your team."

The elevator dinged and the door opened, allowing us to step out and into the corridor.

We reached our room and the moment we stepped inside, the sweet scent of honey wafted to our noses, leftovers from when I was ploughing Yumiko earlier.

I'm guessing because the power got shut off, the ventilation system didn't manage to clear out the air before we returned.

"Oh, I never knew the hotel had scents like that. That is certainly interesting," Sofiya commented.

Yeah… Better not tell her what the smell really was…

We went over to the sitting room where she sat across from me, shooting me a disarming smile.

"I will get right to the point, Miss Tera, I would like to purchase whatever you have retrieved from those thieves. You can name your price for it and if we believe that it is worth it, we will purchase it from you."

I raised an eyebrow at her, "You are prepared to go that far without even knowing what it is?"

"Of course, Miss Tera. I believe it should be quite valuable."

"And you are asking us to help you in committing corporate espionage?"

"Not to worry, Miss Tera. If you are cooperative with us, we will make sure that no one will ever know of your involvement."

I was just about to ask her how when my Codex started ringing, prompting me to pause our conversation to answer it.

A screen popped up and another woman appeared on the screen, and the first thing I noted was that she looked eerily similar to the woman seated across from me except she had pink hair.

"Miss Tera! I am Sophia from Ruger Heavy Dynamics! Could I meet with you right now? I am in the hotel lobby downstairs."

…

I'm just going to say that the number of coincidences here is eerie…

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