Volume 6: Mecha Contest Chapter 311 Headhunter Broker
…
…
A month passed in the blink of an eye. Perhaps because of the Undead Crew, Ke Lan had a relatively peaceful month. No one from the Morgan family bothered him again, and the assassination attempt in the alley in West District 3 was as if it had never happened at all - at least in the public media, Ke Lan did not see any reports related to it, not a single bit.
All matters related to the hunting group went smoothly. Many departments that originally needed to negotiate basically gave the green light all the way to the end as soon as they heard the name of the Hunting God Hunting Group. As a result, the anonymous savings cards that the Hound had prepared to use for bribery were still piled in the safe under his desk, and none of them could be given out.
In addition to their original core team, Hound also recruited a group of logistical personnel - almost all of these people were selected from his old subordinates and their families. Although their experience was slightly insufficient, at least their loyalty was not a problem. As long as they were given enough time, these people could become the backbone of the entire hunting group.
This proposal was first put forward by Ivan. "It is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish." Although the Hounds are rich now, it is not a long-term solution to support them by donating money. It is better to use this method to provide them with a stable job. Anyway, the God Hunting Group will never let them down in terms of treatment.
The building rented by Thor Heavy Industries to the God Hunter Group has a basement divided into three parts: a vehicle warehouse, an equipment warehouse, and a mechanical workshop. The first to third floors are office areas, and the reception hall, meeting room, conference room, mission analysis room, archive room, and digital computer room are all located in this area. The fourth floor has been converted into a temporary employee dormitory for those employees whose homes are far away from the headquarters.
As for the fifth and sixth floors, although the outside looks unchanged, the inside has been completely reinforced into a fortress - this is an area that only the core members of the hunting group can enter and exit. If someone wants to break in by force, the first thing they have to face is the nearly thirty kinds of traps in the corridor outside, ranging from non-lethal ones to those that can instantly evaporate a person on the spot; from fully automated controls to those controlled by ancient but reliable mechanical structures... almost everything is available.
In the words of the designer Layton, "The defense system of the research institute is about this level."
Even if the invaders could break through these mechanisms, at the end of the corridor, there is an unbreakable barrier - a battleship-level energy shield generator. Although it is only the smallest level, its defense strength is still dozens of times stronger than that of a single-soldier shield. Even if the entire building is destroyed, people under the protection of this energy shield will not be harmed.
During this month, Ke Lan and his team were busy from morning till night almost every day, so the Anderson Group's plan made no progress at all... However, according to the information provided by Zofia, the girl named Heather Anderson seemed to be really fascinated by Ke Lan. At least four times, she asked the driver to take a detour and pass by the entrance of the hunting group's headquarters. Unfortunately, Ke Lan was so busy that he didn't see it once.
Fortunately, the situation on Qin Zhao's side did not escalate further - since she did not express her intention to change jobs and her dissatisfaction with Polaris, the managers of the Polaris Hunting Group still thought that she was still kept in the dark and were not in a hurry to tear their faces apart. Instead, they planned to make this intern who had luckily returned from the sinkhole a regular employee. Of course, it is easy to tell that the regularization contract must be full of various interest traps.
However, at least nothing will happen in the near future. Even if Qin Zhao wants to change his contract to a formal employee, he will have to undergo three months of advanced training first. The issue of liquidated damages is not so urgent.
…
A week before the mecha competition started, Ye Yan sent people to deliver several engineering prototypes of new models that had not yet been officially released to Ke Lan and his team. According to the people sent by Ye Yan, these new models have also been included in the list of available models for this competition. With just a little modification and debugging, they can be used directly in the competition arena, and there is no need to prepare additional machines.
It seems that Ye Yan has already calculated their intention to participate in the competition... However, relying solely on the advantages of the new aircraft without suitable pilots, it will still be extremely difficult to qualify in the group stage.
But Layton didn't care about these. After the new machine was delivered, he spent the whole day in the mechanical workshop on the basement floor. Even during meal times, he was nowhere to be seen.
…
Meanwhile, on the other side.
"How could this happen?!" The middle-aged man looked at the tablet computer in his hand, his face full of anger and confusion, "Why did this happen? Why! Why?"
He raised the tablet computer, as if he wanted to throw it hard to the ground, but in the end, he slowly put his hand down - the balance in the account was almost gone, and in order to modify the mecha, he applied for loans from all the institutions that could lend money. Although this second-hand tablet computer was very cheap, he no longer had the money to buy it.
He had no way out, so he could only move forward. He believed in Valentina, and he believed that with her ability, she would be able to overcome all the thorns ahead...
But now, there are no thorns ahead.
There isn't even a road.
He raised his head and looked at the huge mecha standing quietly in the warehouse, and a feeling of despair gradually filled his heart.
"Major...what happened?" Valentina had been standing behind him and didn't ask until he stopped yelling hysterically.
"The Striker III skeleton... has been completely eliminated..." The man handed the tablet behind him without looking back, "According to the list of available skeletons announced by the event organizer, we must at least replace the skeleton with the Striker IV to be eligible to participate in this session ... But, let alone replacing the skeleton, we don't even have enough money to replace the outer armor..."
"We... can't use it to participate in the competition?" Valentina took the tablet and took a look at the rusty mecha - just yesterday, the middle-aged man she called Major had just assembled the outer armor. Although they could only afford second-hand armor and even though they were reluctant to spend money on rust removal and painting, Valentina knew in her heart that even a mecha like this, in her hands, could easily defeat those glamorous opponents.
But if she can't play, even if she has the strength of a champion...it's meaningless.
Although the competition system was announced three months ago, the list of available frame models was only made public just now... According to the Ye Group, the organizer of the competition, this was done to ensure the mystery of the new machine, but what the major and Valentina did not expect was that in addition to adding new machine frames whose names had never been heard of to the end of the list, the Ye Group also eliminated the six old frame types at the front of the list, including the Striker III frame they used.
There are a total of four models of six-meter humanoid skeletons in the Striker series. Except for Type IV, which is an enhanced skeleton launched by Hermas Industries eight years ago based on the Striker Type III, the other three models are antiques that are at least thirty years old. The number of contestants using this series of skeletons is almost negligible. Even if there are any, they are basically spare bodies registered by some poorer clubs. Even if the organizer removes these antique skeletons from the list, the impact on the contestants can be said to be minimal.
But for the major and Valentina, this Striker III skeleton was the best skeleton they could buy even if they saved money and borrowed money from everywhere. But now the Striker III was suddenly banned, and it was no wonder that the major became like this.
Valentina browsed the information on the tablet screen with an expressionless face - although the organizer of the competition would sell the blank frame and corresponding accessories to all contestants at "cost price", the price of the Striker IV was still as high as more than 6 million credit points... Even if they sold the debugged mecha on hand, they could not afford such a price.
This current Raider III skeleton, which has countless hands, cost less than 500,000 credit points when it was purchased.
The biggest difference between the Raider Type III and Type IV is that the Type IV has a fully enclosed cockpit mixed with a large amount of Nino alloy, while the Type III's cockpit is just a frame supported by several steel frames, and the pilot's protection depends entirely on the thin external armor plate.
The organizers' reasons for eliminating the Raider III frame are irrefutable: the protection measures for pilots in the Raider III cockpit are not perfect. In previous competitions, the injury rate of pilots using this type of frame has remained high. Now that there are safer frames, it is natural to eliminate these old models with obvious defects.
But Valentina doesn't care. Even without the external armor, even if she is only driving a skeleton to participate in the competition, she is confident that she can kill everyone who stands in her way... However, just because she doesn't care doesn't mean that the organizers of the competition can make an exception for her alone.
This world is so unfair. The commander who issued the wrong order, resulting in the death of 141 members of the Strangler Squadron, was able to escape the trial of the military court just because of his prominent family background... and she, who was willing to risk her own life, was rejected from the mecha competition just because the skeleton she used was "not safe enough".
That's right. After all, her life is worthless, just like the 141 people in the Strangler Squadron. Their lives are worthless...
The force on Valentina's fingers suddenly increased, and several tiny cracks appeared on the yellowed and aged plastic frame of the tablet computer. But at this moment, a dialog box suddenly popped up on the top of the screen -
"An unknown user has sent you a private message. Do you want to open it now?"
"Major... someone sent you an email." Valentina raised her head and said to the middle-aged man who suddenly knelt on the ground dejectedly.
"Maybe he's here to collect debts..."
Before the middle-aged man finished speaking, Valentina had already opened the private message.
The sender was a user with the ID "ACMS_0420", and the first sentence of the private message was: The Ye Group just announced the list of . As far as I know, the registration materials submitted by your team only include one machine, which uses the Striker III skeleton which is not on the list.
"Who is this person? How does he know?" Valentina was stunned and immediately shifted her gaze to the next row.
"According to the rules of the event organizer, if you fail to update your aircraft information and send it for inspection within 72 hours before the start of the competition, you will be disqualified.
However, considering your financial situation, you may not be able to afford to replace the machine.
The owner of this account, Chi Hanfeng, has 161 credit points remaining in his assets. In addition, he has 26 debts totaling 486,050 credit points. The latest debt repayment date is nine days from now, and the principal and interest is 31,100 credit points.
"Who are you? Why do you know all this?" The more Valentina read, the more frightened she became. Even she didn't know the data very well. She only knew that the major had secretly borrowed a lot of money to modify the mecha, but she had never been told the exact amount.
"Me? I'm just an intelligence broker, but this time I'm doing an old client a favor by working part-time as a headhunter and talent agent... Of course, none of this matters. What's important is that if you are disqualified from the competition, you won't be able to pay back the debts, right?" ACMS_0420 was online, and he responded immediately after Valentina sent the message.
"To make a long story short, I have an old client who also wants to participate in this competition, but his situation is exactly the opposite of yours. He has several latest models of competitive mechas, but he can't find a strong pilot to operate them... He originally came to me for help with the idea of giving it a try. I don't know if it was my luck or his luck that led me to find you."
"It's up to you to decide whether or not to join."
"Major...Major, this man...is not here to collect debts." Valentina walked up to Chi Hanfeng with a tablet.
"Not a debt collector?"
"He...he said there is a team and invited me to join...said they have the latest competitive mecha..." Valentina said hesitantly. She was not sure whether what this man said was true or he was a complete liar.
“But I’m not sure if what he said is true or not.”
"What?" Chi Hanfeng snatched the tablet and quickly read the contents in the chat box.
His breathing was a little rapid. He raised his head, stared at Valentina and said, "This... this may be our only chance. Whether it is true or false, we should give it a try."
He immediately typed and asked, "What is the name of the club that invited us to join? What are the benefits for pilots? If we win a place, how much bonus will we get? Also, if there is a draft contract, can you send it to me first so I can take a look?"
"It's not a professional club that invited you, but an amateur team."
"Amateur team? Who is the boss behind it?" Chi Hanfeng asked. Since they were able to get the latest competitive mecha, the financial strength of this amateur team should not be underestimated. Who knows, the boss behind it might be the son of a large consortium or family.
"God Hunter Group."
God Hunting Group? Chi Hanfeng was slightly stunned, and immediately opened the search engine in another window and typed these four words into it.
The search results popped up quickly. As a consortium-level hunting group officially registered by Ark, at least the public information can be searched by everyone on the Internet.
But when Chi Hanfeng saw one of the photos of the "founder of the hunting group", he couldn't help but exclaimed -
"This person... could it be that Nick guy?!"
