The sound of footsteps on the train tracks broke the silence in the dark tunnel. The vague noises of human chatter gradually grew clearer as the footsteps headed in the direction of the exit.
"It's a self-driving train after all. It isn't really that weird if it stops suddenly. Maybe, there is a fault…" The most distinct voice from the chatter was one that was low and mellow. After that person spoke, he laughed, "But, luckily that train broke down, otherwise we wouldn't have helpers!"
Just as that sentence was spoken, the group of people finally walked out from the tunnel. The person leading the group was a LP wearing a tailcoat. He raised his arm and pointed to the street, not far from them, and gave a thoughtful explanation to the teenage siblings and the reddish humanoid, "This area was once a financial district so there are many banks here. We chose this place as a strategic base because it is easy to defend…"
The person who spoke was Derik. Naturally, the people he was talking to were Reno, Rena and Lin Sanjiu. Initially, the three of them didn't want to participate in the complicated mess. However, Derik didn't give up and continued to persuade them earnestly. He also raised his proposal to a 50:50 split, instead of the 70:30 he initially offered. With his pleasant attitude and charming way of speaking, he made it difficult for them to reject him.
With three other people observing them, Lin Sanjiu couldn't even communicate in written words to the siblings even if she wanted to. The siblings looked at each other and Rena finally spoke, "We don't wish to be dragged into your conflicts, so—"
"What about this?" Derik interjected, "As we don't have enough people, even guarding this place is quite troublesome. Since you guys don't want to get involved, why don't you help as just guards in this place? We will still split 30% of what we get with you!"
He was very tactful in his negotiation. He started with a difficult request for them to join them in battle, before he reduced the request to something simpler like guarding the premise. He even offered a good reward, so it was really hard for them to reject him. Just as Lin Sanjiu sighed, Reno acted as she expected. He paused to think for some time and agreed, "I think that's alright."
Derik immediately showed his great satisfaction at the outcome. He quickly took lead and brought the siblings and Lin Sanjiu out of the tunnel. The infrastructure in Kisaragi Station was very strange, so when they came out of the tunnel, they found themselves right in the financial district.
"Who did you guys offend? How did it happen?" Rena asked Derik while she walked beside her brother. She had not removed her gloves from the moment her group met the other trio and instead kept her hands in the pockets of her Tully dress.
Hannie answered her instead, "You guys are from Red Nautilus so you probably have never heard of them. Our enemies are a group who have recently gained infamy in Jade Paradise. They are ruthless and arrogant. They are a group of seven people. Every now and then, they would create trouble for us."
With her explanation, it was obvious to the siblings and Lin Sanjiu why they were so desperate to find people to help them. The difference in the number of members was too large. Rena quietly explained to Lin Sanjiu that Jade Paradise was one of the worlds in Twelve Worlds Centrum.
"We purchased a very expensive detector from The Munitions Factory and detected the existence of Special Items around this area… As you know, it takes a long time to actually find a Special Item even after detection… Sigh. We can only blame ourselves for not being more careful. And so, we were targeted by that group from Jade Paradise," Derik sighed quite a few times, seeming to regret the matter.
"How many flashing dots did you see on your detector?" Reno couldn't help asking.
Hearing this, Derik smiled faintly and whispered, "Exactly 27."
Reno and Rena both took a sharp breath when they heard this. It was extremely difficult to manufacture a Special Item Detector. So, even if it was created by The Munitions Factory, it was flawed. Special Items detected by the detector were indicated by small flashing dots on its screen, as the false-positive rate was high, it had an error rate of 30%.
However, the number of Special Items indicated was quite extraordinary, even if they took account of the error rate.
"That many? That explains why those people targeted you guys." Reno mumbled.
"They made it very clear that they wanted everything, declaring that they would not spare anyone who got in their way. We have a difficult battle ahead of us…" Derik sighed and brought the group of them to a bank building situated among a few other office buildings.
Compared to the other business buildings, a bank has better security features and a stronger structure. It also has windows with bulletproof glass. In other words, a bank is an ideal place to defend against attackers.
"We were lucky. We found the key of this bank on a duoluozhong nearby so we didn't have to destroy any part of its structure," Derik explained when Hannie took out a remote control key. The metal shutters of the bank rolled upward slowly, revealing thick glass doors. They could see their reflection on the cold large marble floors.
After calling the siblings to enter, Derik and his team walked into the bank like it was their house.
"Hey, let's not mingle with them for too long," Rena said quietly to her brother and Lin Sanjiu when they walked through the doors of the bank, "It sounds dangerous. We don't even have anything to do with it, so why should we take this risk…"
"But… There are 27 Special items here," Reno was a little hesitant, "We have already used up quite a lot of the items we brought…"
Lin Sanjiu couldn't help thinking of the cylindrical container she was trapped in previously.
" Sometimes, a powerful Special Item was game-changing. If I still had to stay in Kisaragi Station for such a long time, it wouldn't be a bad idea to collect a few more Special Items, " Lin Sanjiu thought to herself absent-mindedly while she followed the siblings into the bank.
The front lobby of the bank seemed wide and empty as everything that could be moved had been cleared from the middle of the lobby. There were a few random documents on the ground and the seats meant for waiting customers were strewn haphazardly to one side. There was still a stack of cash on the table previously used for form-filling.
After showing Reno and Rena their base of operation, Derik took out a hand-drawn map when they weren't noticing. Even though the drawings on the map looked simple and crude, the map was detailed. Every street and corner had been carefully drawn. From the path that they took from the tunnel, it was clear that the map was very accurate.
After all, the opposing party had more members, came from Twelve Worlds Centrum, and most certainly had many rare items, so they had to be extremely cautious. After everyone had sat in a circle around the map, Derik circled the area where they had a skirmish with their enemies. He briefed the team about what had happened and his analysis.
"And, that's about it. Do you have questions?" When Derik had almost finished the briefing, he looked at the team and asked.
Reno and Rena shook their heads. Hannie and Zhu Mingchun also started to stand up.
Zhu Mingchun shot a very quick glance at Rena's lower back. He looked for just a split second before looking away and acted like nothing had happened. Though it was just a swift look, Lin Sanjiu noticed it.