Volume 10: Ancient Battleship Chapter 511 Partners
First of all, one thing is certain: with the size and capabilities of the God Hunting Group, it is impossible to swallow such a big piece of "cake" alone.
Not only them, but any other hunting group on the Ark would not be able to complete the exploration of "Aguna Tor" on their own.
Not only is the progress of exploration going to be very slow, but also this "eating alone" attitude will easily lead to jealousy from others... Even if Ke Lan has the support of the undead crew behind him, there will inevitably be some greedy people who will interfere.
Although these people's little actions will not cause serious damage to the God Hunting Group, they will disgust people with various small things...especially when a group of red-eye disease patients unite.
The God Hunters must not be isolated, they must find a group of "partners" and form an alliance to jointly explore and develop the battleship. With enough allies, some villains will not dare to act so recklessly when they do bad things.
But the choice of this partner is also very particular. Compared with external enemies, the backstab of allies is something that Ke Lan fears more.
First of all, the army and the research institute, these two places have already been confirmed - the army is the most powerful violent organization on the Ark, and is also directly controlled by the Undead Crew. Like the United Parliament Group, they can also be regarded as the Undead Crew's agent in public, and Ke Lan cannot refuse.
The research institute has the most advanced technology and talents on the Ark. If you want to maximize the transformation of exploration results into tangible benefits, the research institute is indispensable. Moreover, if Ke Lan chooses to cooperate with other forces, the things discovered during the exploration process will most likely be transferred to the research institute in the end. It is better to let the God Hunter Group establish a direct cooperative relationship with the research institute to avoid middlemen making a profit from the price difference.
As for the remaining options, they are only the Security Bureau and various large private conglomerates.
Now Ke Lan already knows that the Security Bureau can basically be regarded as a direct subordinate of the Undead Crew Association... To put it more simply, this group of people is just like the imperial spies and the Jinyiwei in ancient times. They are responsible for doing the dirty work of wiping the emperor's butt and flushing the toilet. As for the so-called director, he is just a puppet who obeys the orders of the Crew Association.
Ke Lan had no need to please them, but he changed his mind and thought, if the Security Bureau was also involved, and some blind people came out to cause trouble, then they would be directly accused of "suspected of endangering the safety of the Ark", which would be enough to make them pay the price.
Although the Security Bureau will not be of much help in the process of exploring the ruins, at least the name is intimidating enough to deter those guys who want to make trouble because they can't have a piece of the "cake".
…
Speaking of major conglomerates, the first thing Ke Lan thought of was Zofia's Soma Conglomerate, but Zofia cannot be considered the head of the Soma family yet. If he goes directly to the Soma Conglomerate, even if Ke Lan specifically asks Zofia to be in charge of cooperation matters, the other heirs of the Soma family will definitely find opportunities to insert their own people.
Ke Lan was not interested in the intrigues within the big conglomerates and families, but if this group of people brought all this mess into the ruins, then he could not just ignore it.
Although Ke Lan can connect to the control console of "Aguna Tor", more than 90% of the areas inside the battleship are still not open to him due to "insufficient authority". The degree of danger in these areas is completely unknown, and no one knows what dangers they will encounter inside... If there are still people in the exploration team who are calculating their own interests at this time, and are unwilling to cooperate with others, or even calculating against their teammates, then it is entirely possible that everyone in the entire team will be killed.
Bringing in one black sheep like this would be enough to cause a headache, and if a group of them were brought in... Ke Lan felt that it was time to prepare for the funeral of the members of this exploration team.
There is one thing that is more troublesome about choosing to cooperate with a consortium: the interest relations within any consortium are very complicated. Even brothers may become enemies because of fighting for inheritance rights, not to mention those shareholders who may not be related by blood.
Ke Lan thought about it and decided that it would be better to let Zofia participate as a shareholder of the God Hunting Group, and then use her as a link to let the Soma Group join the alliance in disguise - in this way, all those who participate in the exploration of the ruins will be Zofia's confidants, and there will be no need to worry about other people from the Soma family interfering.
If they could gain anything in the ruins, it could all be counted on her head, helping Zofia improve her status in the Soma family - if they were lucky, it was not impossible to directly promote her to the position of head of the family.
By then, no one would say that Ke Lan was a gigolo, and who knows how many wealthy nobles would want to send their daughters to him. Although the Ark practiced monogamy in principle, the relevant laws had a lot of loopholes that could be exploited, and many men from large families had more than one female partner...
Of course, if women are in an absolutely dominant position, the situation will be completely reversed - Ke Lan once saw a piece of information on the Internet: Mrs. Maria, who started out as a jewellery and artwork manufacturer, has three-digit men in her harem, and many new members are added every year.
Among these men, there are young masters of wealthy noble families, popular young stars, handsome amateurs with ordinary backgrounds, and even the wife of the male host in the nightclub has "collected" quite a few. The only thing they have in common is that they "don't want to work hard anymore"...
The only thing that makes Ke Lan a little strange is that with so many men, that Lady Maria...can she handle them all?
"What are you thinking about, kid? Why are you laughing so lasciviously?" The hound interrupted Ke Lan's reverie and said with a naughty smile, "Are you thinking about the eldest daughter of the Soma family? Tsk, what's the point of thinking about it? If you don't take the initiative, who can you blame? She has already delivered herself to your door. If you were braver, you would have taken her down long ago. Why do you still need to daydream here?"
"I did think of Zofia, but I didn't think about the dirty things you mentioned. Instead, I was thinking about whether to involve her in the exploration project of this relic." Ke Lan said righteously, and in an instant threw the ambiguous scenes out of his mind.
"Tsk? You mean men's clothing is serious? This is not a dirty thing at all. It's a natural outcome of our mutual consent. It's the great harmony between life and nature. How come it becomes a dirty thing in your mouth?" The hound silently raised a middle finger to Ke Lan.
"Yes, it's a natural thing for both of us to do... Then why did you and Layton go to 'Fuso Street' in the New East 9th District last month to find the kimono sister to discuss the harmony between life and nature?" Ke Lan immediately replied.
"Tsk, you just don't understand this... The New East 9th District has just been rebuilt and there is a lot of work to be done. We need people to go there to consume and boost popularity so that the whole block can gradually prosper. Big Guy and I are generously donating money to contribute our own part to the revitalization of the New East 9th District." The Hound said seriously, without even blushing.
"Ah, right, right!" Layton, who was suddenly dragged into the topic, quickly agreed, "It is our duty to revitalize the economy of backward areas!"
"Contribute your strength? Aren't you contributing all your strength to other people's stomachs?" Ke Lan glanced at the two of them speechlessly, "Okay, let's get down to business. As for partners, I have temporarily decided on four."
"The military, the research institute, the security bureau, and your beautiful fiancée." Hound immediately responded, "Don't even think about it. It's too easy to guess. "
"Because these few companies are already a done deal," Ivan said, "but considering the size of Yaguna Kotor, the manpower of these few companies is far from enough."
"Yeah... the military, the research institute, the security bureau, and the Soma Consortium, all of these combined may not be as good as us." Layton said while counting on his fingers, "First of all, the military, although they are well-equipped and have a large number of people, and the individual strength of the elite troops is not bad, but they are soldiers after all, and they don't have much experience in delicate work such as exploring ruins. Similarly, the people from the research institute and the security bureau are the same, their professional skills are not suitable, and bringing them along is like bringing a burden."
"That's right, the woman who just left, she and her men, have no other skills, they just make things difficult for us. If it weren't for them, our mission would have been much smoother." The Hound complained, "I suspect these people were not sent to help us, but to monitor us."
"Nine times out of ten." Ivan nodded.
"These three companies are not involved in the exploration of ruins, so I won't say more here." Layton straightened his three bent fingers, "As for the remaining... the people under the young lady, to be honest, are not that good either."
The Soma Group itself does not have much interest in the business of ruins exploration, and the "Pioneer" icebreaker was not originally built to explore underwater ruins. As for the hunting group under the Soma Group, although it can be regarded as a "company-level" hunting group, its strength is just a makeshift one. In terms of professionalism, it is not even worthy of carrying shoes for a hunting group of the level of Polaris.
Ke Lan and his companions had witnessed the quality of the hunters under the Soma Group once during the Leviathan mission. To say that they were a bunch of misfits was already flattering them - they were a bunch of third-rate mercenaries who had converted to civilian jobs. They had received no systematic training and had no practical exploration experience. They would lose their composure when faced with any emergency... Ke Lan still remembered the unlucky guy who was hit in the leg artery by a ricochet bullet from his own people.
By then, the people sent by Sofia will probably only be able to take charge of some logistical work.
"To put it bluntly, none of these four partners are useful." Hound smacked his lips and said, "What we need is a senior elite hunter, preferably one who has been in the industry for decades and has explored a lot of A-level and B-level ruins, and preferably someone with experience in exploring S-level ruins..."
"There are too few people like you mentioned." Ivan shook his head. "It's a high-risk industry. The mortality rate of exploring high-level ruins is so high. I estimate that there are no more than fifty such veterans in the entire Ark... and most of them have already retired. Just being a coach or consultant in a hunter training institution is enough for them to make a lot of money. How many people are willing to take such a big risk to return to their old job?"
"Hey, I know someone like this." Zhuoligetu, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up. "That guy has been a relic hunter for at least fifteen years. He has participated in six S-level relic exploration missions and has been to even more AB-level relic explorations. Moreover, this guy is still active on the front line of relic exploration."
" Who is it? If there really is such a person, why haven't I heard of him?" The hound was a little puzzled. "I know all the leaders of the most famous hunting groups, but I don't remember such a person? Could it be that even someone with his qualifications cannot be a leader?"
"No, he is not from the big hunting group. He is an independent hunter. He usually keeps a low profile and few people know him." Zhuoligetu said, "I just happened to go to the ruins with him twice, and I heard these things ."
"Is this true?" The Hound grinned with a look of disbelief on his face. "Could it be that his teammates lied to you just to brag?"
"I don't know if it's true or not, but that person is really strong, especially his skill with throwing knives, which is simply superb. You know the blood rock in the Rust Ridge Mountains, right? Because the rock contains a lot of iron ore, the entire rock wall looks dark red and is very hard. But the throwing knife he threw out could break the handle directly when it pierced the rock wall. I feel that even Layton's mechanical arm is not that exaggerated."
"He's really good at throwing knives? This guy... his nickname is 'Thirty-Three'?" The Hound was stunned for a moment. "He carries thirty-three dart-shaped throwing knives forged with Nino alloy. He doesn't talk much and is very serious. He especially hates people smoking in front of him, right?"
"Ah? You...you know him?" This time it was Zhuo Ligetu who was surprised.
"I know him. He used to be a member of the field force, the deputy captain of the 'Velociraptor' assault team. Later, during a mission, the Velociraptor assault team suffered heavy losses, even the captain was killed in the battle, and he retired due to injuries, and there has been no news since then... I didn't expect that he would become a relic hunter. By the way, how many people are there in their team ?"
"Not many, probably about seven or eight people... They are all quite old, and judging from their behavior, they are all very self-disciplined guys. They also said they were retired soldiers, but they didn't say which unit they retired from." Zhuoligetu said, looking at Hound and Layton, "I originally thought that retired soldiers were like them, until I met you two."
"Hey...it seems that they are the remaining members of the Velociraptor Squad." Hound said, "Logically speaking, their pensions should be enough for them to live a comfortable life in the second half of their lives. Why would they do this?"
"Uh... one of them told me about this." Zhuoligetu hesitated and said, "He said that he had heard deafening gunshots for half his life and was used to lying in the uncomfortable trenches. Now he couldn't fall asleep in the soft bed. When he closed his eyes, he would see the scenes he didn't want to recall, so he ran away."
"War Traumatic Stress Syndrome," Ivan said.
