Volume 7: Abandoned Sandstone City Chapter 343 A Commission of 10 Million
…
"...Can't you really let me join the hunting group? I promise I won't hold you back." Sakurai Na asked pitifully.
"No, whether or not you will be a hindrance is not something that can be determined by your subjective will, so I can't agree to you." Ke Lan answered mercilessly.
"If you don't agree, I will tell my grandfather about how you held me hostage, and I will have the entire Mitsui Group target you..."
Before Sakurai Nai finished her "threat", she was interrupted by Ke Lan. He took out his cell phone from his pocket and put it on the table, saying, "It was just a misunderstanding. In addition, I have recorded our conversation just now. If Miss Sakurai Nai intends to do this, I will send this recording to the head of the Mitsui family. I believe he will definitely stand on my side."
"You... " Seeing the words "Recording..." on the phone screen, Sakurai Nana suddenly became dull and her tone softened.
"Then...then how about assigning me to the logistics unit? I have also been in the hunting group under the Mitsui Group for a period of time. I know that hunting groups of this size will have a complete logistics department. In this way, you don't have to worry about my personal safety, right?"
"Our hunting group has just been established. There are only four people in the logistics department. Two are responsible for cleaning the headquarters building, and two are responsible for daily equipment maintenance. What can you do if you come? Besides... I can't afford the salary of a doctor of your level."
“I don’t need a salary.”
"That's fine."
"I've already said I don't want a salary, why not...ah? You agreed?" Sakurai Na was stunned, and the ice cream in the spoon fell directly onto the steak. The white cream and brown black pepper sauce mixed together to form a weird sauce.
"But there are a few things I need to explain to you in advance." Ke Lan said, "First, you must abide by all the rules and regulations of the hunting group. You will not have any privileges, nor will you receive any special treatment."
"Yeah." Sakurai Na nodded repeatedly.
"Secondly, you are an intern in the logistics department. You are not part of the official staff. You only have a basic salary and do not enjoy all the benefits, dividends and bonuses of the hunting group."
“It doesn’t matter if there is no basic salary…”
"Third, your workplace is in the hunting group's headquarters building. We will not take you to perform any missions, and you cannot ask any member of the hunting group to take you away from the Ark."
"...Isn't it possible for me to provide you with nearby support outside the ruins instead of entering the ruins?" Sakurai Na asked unwillingly.
"No, if you want to join us, you can't leave the Ark during your service." Ke Lan said. The wilderness is full of dangers. In addition to the ruins, indigenous creatures, various natural disasters and extreme environments, even exiles and people from heretical sects may pose a threat to it. The God Hunting Group does not have many people, and it is impossible to allocate a few more people to specifically protect Sakurai Na's safety.
"Anyway, your goal is just to get close to Asano Akira, so it doesn't matter whether you go to the ruins or not." Ke Lan added.
"But, don't you Chinese have an old saying that goes 'a friend in need is a friend indeed'... If I can't join you on the mission..."
"Ms. Sakurai Na, please understand that if you want to fall in love, you must be alive first... I think you don't want to have some bloody plot like 'In order to save you, Asano Akira had to sacrifice himself', right?"
Sakurai Na shook her head.
"Okay then. When this game is over, you can come to the hunting group headquarters to find me. With your ability and background, you should be able to find the address of our headquarters, right?"
"able……"
Looking at the expression on Sakurai Na's face, Ke Lan couldn't help but sigh. This girl, to put it bluntly, is still a little girl under 20 years old. Although she can show composure and calmness that is inconsistent with her age when treating and saving people, in this kind of thing, the true nature of the little girl is fully exposed... It seems that the Mitsui family must be extremely doting on her, which leads to her character of having to cling to others if she can't get what she wants... I hope she won't get into big trouble this time.
After quickly finishing his breakfast, Ke Lan found an excuse to leave, but Sakurai Na gave up the rest of his time and followed him.
"Do you have anything else to say?" Ke Lan frowned and asked.
"Can't I go over to your place and take a look if everything is alright?"
"You are the team doctor of the Mitsui Group now. It's not a good idea for you to come to our place, right?"
"But I see that fat guy from the Ye family and his girlfriend often stay in your private room. If they can go, why can't I?"
"What about all this food? Didn't you say it wouldn't go to waste?"
"I've messaged my assistant and she'll be here soon to pack the stuff and bring it back to my place."
"You can come with me if you want. As soon as I get home, I'll tell Asano Akira that there's a guy who has a crush on him.—"
Before Ke Lan finished speaking, Sakurai Nai had already taken several steps back: "No, don't tell him yet, I won't follow you, okay..."
"Okay, bye." Ke Lan immediately turned around and left the restaurant quickly - a guy like Sakurai Nana was too difficult to deal with. You couldn't use force nor reason with her. The only way to control her was probably to bring up the name of Asano Akira.
"Women are really troublesome creatures." Ke Lan once again confirmed this thought in his heart.
…
As soon as he returned to his residence, he sold out Sakurai Na - he went straight to Asano Akira and played the recording in his mobile phone.
"How are you going to solve this?"
"I don't know." Asano Akira shook his head.
"…So what do you think of this guy?"
"I haven't seen her." Asano Akira continued to answer.
Ke Lan was stunned. Asano Akira's words were not wrong at all. Although they had met "once" on Leviathan, Asano Akira had never seen Sakurai Na "with his own eyes"...
"Well... how should I put it? Her appearance is probably okay. According to your Japanese aesthetic standards, she is definitely a beauty... well... her skin is very white, her eyes are very big, and her facial features are a bit like those of a 2D beautiful girl. By the way, do you know what 2D means?"
"I don't know." Asano Akira continued to shake his head.
"Then just forget what I said. Anyway, Sakurai Na is quite pretty. You can ask Lao Gou about this. He will definitely agree with me. When I kidnapped her, he thought I was just attracted by her beauty." Ke Lan said.
"Oh." Asano Akira still had an expressionless look on his face.
"That's right... Even if she's pretty, you can't see her... figure..." Ke Lan recalled, "her figure seems to be a little off, quite flat... But she's still young, so there should be room for growth."
"oh."
"Don't keep saying that. She fell in love with you at first sight... No, it should be love at second sight. But no matter if it was the first or second time, she will come to you after the competition. You can't just ignore her."
"That's what you agreed to. What does it have to do with me?" said Asano Akira.
"Excuse me, do you like women or men?"
"I don't know."
"Ah? ...Do you have someone you particularly like?"
"have."
"Who is it?"
Asano Akira took out his long sword.
“…”
Ke Lan suddenly felt that she shouldn't have run to the restaurant to have breakfast just now.
…
When Ke Lan came out of Asano Akira's room, the cell phone in his pocket rang. He took it out and saw that it was a message sent by the intelligence dealer.
"I found some clues about the Dark Crow Club that you asked me to look into before."
"What clues?" Ke Lan asked immediately.
"These are just some fragmentary clues. They can't be strung together into a complete piece of intelligence. There's no point in telling you." The other party replied.
"I can only tell you one thing, this club may be related to the Strangler Squadron." Ke Lan's finger was still hovering above the virtual button when the other party sent another message.
"Really?" Ke Lan was startled, and moved his thumb quickly a few times, sending two words.
It has something to do with the Strangler Squadron... This naturally reminded him of the commander who gave the wrong order mentioned by Chi Hanfeng - Valentina seemed to have been looking for that person, and Chi Hanfeng did not seem to support her approach.
Ke Lan remembered that after everyone got drunk last night, Valentina leaned back on the sofa with her head tilted back. She bit her lips with her teeth and kept muttering that man's name in her throat: "Mann".
This scene was very much like a girl who was drinking to drown her sorrows because of a broken heart and was muttering the name of her ex-boyfriend... But Ke Lan heard deep hatred in Valentina's vague voice... If that guy was standing in front of her now, she would definitely rush up to him - even if she didn't have any weapons, she would tear the other person to pieces with her teeth and nails.
Ke Lan and Ivan both knew about Valentina's injuries. In that situation, it was really a miracle that she was able to survive... bleeding, infection, organ failure, respiratory arrest... Logically speaking, she would not have been able to be carried off the operating table alive ten years ago. Perhaps, it was this hatred that supported her and helped her break free from the arms of death?
Ke Lan knew that if she knew the news, things would get out of control... Valentina would definitely lose her mind, which was not what Chi Hanfeng and they wanted to see.
There are many ways to take revenge, but she would undoubtedly choose the most radical one.
She lives for revenge, and she is willing to die together with her partner as long as she can achieve her goal.
…
"Have I ever given you false information?" the other party said in the chat box.
"Please continue to investigate this matter. Also, make sure to keep it confidential." Ke Lan thought for a moment and said to the man.
"Okay, but——" The other party sent half a sentence, plus a GIF expression of the right thumb rubbing the index and middle fingers.
"You want extra money, right? How much?"
"Ten million credit points, a flat price. I can only say that I have given you the maximum discount... I think you should know the difficulty and risks of this matter better than I do."
"Deal." Ke Lan agreed without much thought. "How many days will it take to find out?"
"The fastest is three days, and the longest is a week. This is affected by some force majeure factors. I can't give you a definite answer."
"Okay, the sooner the better." Ke Lan closed the chat box and put the phone back into his pocket.
He turned his head and saw Valentina sitting at the dining table, eating the breakfast brought to her by the waiter - there was no reservation service on the ship, and the dining car with limited space could only provide limited choices. On the plate in front of her was a German sandwich, with white sausage, pickles, bacon and sliced roast pork elbow sandwiched between two slices of bread... Although it was also very rich, in comparison, the Chinese breakfast was more to Ke Lan's taste.
Chi Hanfeng sat opposite Valentina, watching the game video projected on the wall while eating dark brown whole wheat toast. He held a glass of water in his hand but did not drink a sip.
If the Raven Club is really related to the man called "Mann", things may not be as simple as imagined.
Valentina's performance was so outstanding that she attracted too many people's attention. If that "Mann" was also watching the game, he would definitely notice Valentina... Although Valentina's identity and background had been modified, the truth was not difficult to find out - at least for the intelligence dealer, it was much easier to find out than the background of the Dark Crow Club: before, Ke Lan commissioned him to investigate Valentina and Chi Hanfeng, he only charged 5,000 credit points, and sent the detailed information to Ke Lan's mailbox in less than 30 minutes.
And the power of this "Mann" must be much stronger than that of the intelligence dealer, otherwise, he would not be able to escape the trial of the military court.
What would he do if he knew that Valentina was the survivor of the Strangler Squadron?
Ke Lan tried to put herself in the other person's role - Valentina was alive, which meant that besides herself, there were still people in the world who remembered what happened back then... If she was just struggling to survive at the bottom of society, then whether she lived or died would have no effect on her... But now, she participated in the Ark Mech Competition and made it to the top 16, gaining a large number of fans and extremely high attention...
If she wanted, she could expose that matter again at any time!
Few people would believe what a girl from the slums said, but if it was said by an ace pilot who had achieved good results and performed brilliantly in competitions, it would inevitably lead to the intervention and investigation of relevant departments.
Although this may not necessarily pose a threat to me, trouble is always inevitable. Moreover, as things continue to ferment, the situation will become more and more complicated...
For people like Mann, the thing he hates the most is probably the uncertainty full of variables, which makes him feel that things are out of control, leading to a series of unknown consequences.
The simplest and most convenient way is to make Valentina disappear so that she can never speak again before these things are announced.
