It was a large room with colorful and dazzling lights, that was probably built to give luxury to the info broker’s clients. The prostitute turned to face him.

"If you truly know us, then you should know that we usually speak with our clients alone," he spat, his voice laced with frustration. “And we are always the ones who approach our clients. Not the other way around. But it seems that this is an immediate situation for you to need a piece of information so I will be turning a blind eye on this, but there will be no next time.”

Ubel ignored the prostitute's complaints, his gaze fixed on the man before him.

"We have a business to discuss," he stated firmly, his tone brooking no argument. “And one day, in the future, I will send my crew who will be meeting with you in my stead.”

“No. This is only an exception. Any more attempt to make initiative contact with us will be considered a violation of our rules and shall be blacklisted from our services.”

“Blacklist…” Ubel mused for a moment but was interrupted by a demanding tone from the male prostitute.

“First, how did you know me?” he asked.

Ubel just showed an amused expression and then answered.

“Well, that is interesting. You’re the person who’s going to sell me information, not take information from me.”

However, the person he was talking to wouldn’t budge.

“If you truly know who I am, then you should know that we do not abide with the other info brokers.”

“Oh yeah, there’s that.” Ubel also agrees with his argument. “Well, I knew your group a while back when me and my friends needed a very precise… information of what we were trying to find.”

“Uh-huh…”

“Well, the price was very, very steep. That itself is one of your group’s known unwanted traits.” Ubel shrugged. “That is all that I can tell you, which more or less, adheres to your rules as your group’s client.”

The prostitute raised his eyebrows towards him and eyed the boy he just allowed on his premises. Then he sighed in resignation, realizing that he had little choice but to acquiesce to Ubel's demands.

"Now, make it quick," he muttered, gesturing for Ubel to take a seat at the table.

But as he sat there, plotting his next move, Ubel couldn't shake the feeling that this encounter was only the beginning of a much larger game. As the pieces fell into place, he knew that he would need to stay one step ahead if he hoped to emerge victorious in this new reality.

The world that he used to digitally delve into.

“Haaaa…” the man sighed deeply and looked around. His eyes suddenly glowed as the entire room changed, the floors and ceiling started to vibrate revealing a very distinct room with no joyful color on it. Instead, it showed that the entire room was armed with turrets, already aiming at them. Making it known to Ubel that everything he saw before was just a technological illusion and that he was actually in grave danger should he say or make a wrong move.

Then the prostitute turned towards a corner where several droids were on standby, stored until activated. With a glow in his eyes, he sent commands to the droids and turned them on. The droids activated and followed their orders and went to provide service to their guest.

“Please do pardon me for such a cold welcome.” the man apologized. “It is our measure just in case you were sent by… somebody.”

Ubel nodded, accepting the man’s apology. The robots continued their graceful movements, attending to their guest's needs with mechanical precision. They served Ubel with a cup of hot chocolate, a plate of cake, and a bowl of fruit.

“What do I call you?” Ubel asked if he knew that these people had no names and if they could still be considered ‘people’ even.

“You can call me Gold.” The main introduced himself and then asked. “Then what can I do for you, Ubel?”

"My purpose is simple," Ubel began, his voice steady and composed. "I seek information, and I believe you can provide it."

Gold raised an eyebrow, intrigued by Ubel's request.

"Information is a valuable commodity in our line of work which I’m sure you already know," he remarked, his tone cautious. "So… what exactly are you looking for?"

Ubel leaned forward, his eyes locking with Gold's as he spoke.

“I want the entire archived history of the known galaxy for the last ten years.”

Ubel leaned back in his chair, letting Gold contemplate his words. He knew that acquiring the archive would indeed be a costly endeavor, but he was determined to obtain it at any cost. The information contained within such an archive could hold the key to unlocking what happened in the last 10 years since he saved the game. Which could affect his future ambitions and plans.

"Money is neither an object of restriction nor limit for me," Ubel replied confidently, his eyes locked with Gold's. "Name your price, and I will ensure that it is met."

Gold studied Ubel for a moment, assessing the sincerity in his eyes. He felt like the boy before him was not one to make idle promises, and he could sense the determination radiating from him like a palpable force.

Finally, Gold nodded, a sly smile playing at the corners of his lips.

“It will come at a steep cost which you can never provide in your lifetime,” he said. “Even if you live to a hundred years.”

Ubel leaned forward, his interest piqued. The years were not a concern for Ubel. What he was trying to get was confirmation that it was possible to buy such information. And he was finally relieved to hear the confirmation that his request was possible to be given.

“Try me.” his tone was unwavering which caused Gold to smile even more widely.

“850 trillion credits.” Gold immediately replied.

“That’s actual-”

“For every week’s worth of archive within the ten-year timeframe.” Gold elaborated.

Ubel blinked in pure shock after hearing the price of what he wanted. He just heard the absurd number of zeros that his mind gave up trying to calculate the total price. What Gold meant was that the archive he was asking for, was practically priceless. And in comparison, within his mind, the average GDP of a moon colony with a population of 10-20 million people, was just 400-500 billion credits.

“Damn… that’s really...hmmmm…” as Ubel mulled for a sec.

Gold knew of this also.

With this price, he was not asking for an absurd amount of credit from Ubel. He was asking Ubel, ‘What do you have in offer that had the same value as what you wanted?’. Although he could confirm that he was one of his group’s clients, he was not sure if the boy could pay such an amount.

Then Ubel opened his mouth, seemingly unsure.

“What about the mapping of the known galaxy?”

Gold was at first confused at Ubel’s question. That he was lost for words on what to reply.

“Huh?” Gold just gave a dumbfounded answer as he didn’t expect to hear a counteroffer from Ubel that he thought to have the same value as what he required.

Instead of answering, Ubel just took a small chip from his chest pocket put it inside his palm, and closed it. Then the skin on his palm started coalescing towards the chips as if his skin was made up of tiny living organisms. Then he opened his eyes, glowing in golden radiance, showing the man in front of him that he was sending some kind of data to the chip.

It took several seconds before Ubel completed the transfer.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Then he gave the data frag to the man.

“…” Gold was confused but equally curious about what Ubel was offering but he accepted the data frag and inserted it into his data head port, a small slot that allows the data frags to be inserted and scanned by the user. Then he used his system defense measures in filtering and scanning the data frag for any fraudulent data. As he received several clean statuses from his layers of security measures, he opened the data frag.

Next thing he knew, he was receiving a lot of data with a very, very shocking revelation.

Gold's eyes widened as he watched the footage play out before him, his expression shifting from previous cautious skepticism to stunned disbelief.

The images flickered across his vision.

Depicting scenes of systems, planets, asteroids, and... unknown new civilizations— things that he and people in their known parts of the galaxy, never knew that have existed.

Things that were shaping the course of their entire galactic history in ways both profound and far-reaching, while they remained ignorant of their existence.

As the data footage came to an end, Gold muse silently in his chair, his mind reeling from the revelations contained within the chip. He had to breathe deeply several times just to calmly take in what he had just discovered.

The silence endured for several more minutes until he opened his mouth with no sound coming from it.

He had expected valuable information, but nothing could have prepared him for the magnitude of what he had just witnessed.

"This... this is incredible," he breathed, while confused about which word to use in describing what he had experienced. His voice was barely above a whisper. "I… can’t… I still can’t believe it."

Ubel grinned, satisfied with Gold's reaction. Ubel used his memories while playing the game to map out the footage and data about the other systems and the unknown galaxy that this corner of the board had never heard of. He cut off his perspective of playing behind a monitor and used his virtual footage when he used the Ocular Device to play in a pseudo-virtual reality in Pitch Black World. And he didn’t expect it to be very useful in his new life.

For he was neither a citizen nor someone who had lived on this part of the galactic board. His real and original starting location was somewhere from far, flung parts of the galaxy. Where he built his massive shipping empire and used it to map out the entire Western Galactic Board.

The Union of Great Terran Republics, the Colonial Alliance, the neutral sovereigns, the warlords, and corporations… were all just a small blip on the entire Galactic Board of the Milky Way. They were so insignificant that they were not even considered as players nor even noticed by the eyes of the overlords of the board.

Because the grand players were already playing the game in the Galactic Board.

The Holy Church of the Lucid.

The Ri’Zeta Federation

The Pryseboard Pact

The Insmother Enclave

The Arryvia Bloc

The Firstmar Dominion

And the ever-expanding Belchov-rein Imperium.

He planned to sell this information or trade these as one of his most expensive cards, and only plans to sell bits of it. He had known that the footage would be enough to secure the archive he desired, but seeing the smuggler's shock only confirmed his suspicions that maybe it had had more value.

"I trust that satisfies the price?" Ubel asked, his tone laced with amusement.

Gold nodded, still trying to process the sheer magnitude of what he had just witnessed.

"More than actually… And it is only right to provide the same value in our trade. Especially when it's obvious that you don’t know yourself how much value the data frag had. As such we will also give 150 billion credits as additional payment. And also provide 30 billion for each future trade with others, that’s related to what you have provided." he replied, his voice tinged with awe and wonder.

This made Ubel shocked again, he didn’t expect that he would be getting some kind of passive income from the data he just leaked.

Then Gold asked curiously.

“...who are you?”

The info-broker now had so many questions in his mind.

Who is this boy? Where did he come from? Was he sent by someone or somebody? What is his endgame for leaking this information? What does he truly want? Is this boy even a boy, or something more?

Ubel just smiled and drank his chocolate. Then answered.

“That is going to cost you even more than the price of the archive that I wanted or even the price of the data frag that I gave you.”

Gold who heard his statement, could only cover his mouth in obvious shock. He breathed deeply many times as if to calm himself then he turned back to Ubel.

"Consider the archive yours." With that, Gold rose from his seat and disappeared into the depths of the room where his guests could barely see him. Then he returned with another data frag, this time it was in gold and black color.

“This is the entire archive history of this... known part of the galaxy for the past 10 years.”

Ubel accepted the chip from Gold with a sense of satisfaction, knowing that he had secured the valuable archive he desired. He once again placed the chip within his palm and scanned it once again with the tiny strange organisms on his skin. It took him several more seconds to finish the scan and the chip was absorbed by his palm, leaving no traces of the data frag.

Gold, however, who just noticed what he had done with the chip was staring at Ubel in pure shock once again.

“Nanotechnology…” Gold’s heart felt like it was about to stop. “...what in the…”

“That’s a freebie.” Ubel blinked, implying that he was purposely leaking his nanotech capabilities to Gold. A technology that was still foreign or even considered to be fantasy in this part of the galaxy.

“Why… you also should know that information is also a weapon which you could use to your advantage,” Gold asked, seemingly concerned about the personal reasons of Ubel to leak these things. “You could tip the scale of any battle or even conflict to your own. So why?”

“You see…” Ubel mulled for a second before continuing. “I dislike to see underdogs. I wanted this part of the galaxy to be raised and become an even contender to those who are playing the board. And most importantly… I hate easy pickings.”

“What a strange notion.”

“That’s me.” Ubel blinked playfully. “That’s why make this part of the galaxy interesting for me.”

“Deal.” Gold accepted Ubel’s challenge.

With the exchange complete, he nodded in appreciation to Gold, acknowledging the success of their agreement. Ubel received a lot of credit in return and finished the food and drinks he was served with.

"Thank you, Gold," Ubel said. "It seems that I was right to ask for your services."

Gold offered a nod in return, a sense of relief evident in his expression.

"Likewise, Ubel. It's not often I come across someone who can provide such... content."

It was Gold who leaned forward this time with peaked curiosity.

"And just between the two of us... what do you plan to do with such valuable archive information?"

Ubel's lips curled into a sly grin.

"Oh, I have a few ideas," he replied cryptically. "But for now, let's just say it's strategic information or asset that could prove useful later. Experiencing the same fun of earning my past achievements all over again.”

Gold replied with a grin.

“Past achievements? Who-ah, nevermind. You now have grabbed my full attention, Ubel.”

“Uhh… sorry but I don’t swing that way. And I still have more business to attend to. And you see… I’m just a boy.” Ubel countered sarcastically.

“Oh really? Don’t worry, this body is just a doll. I have many that could provide other services if you so desire... in the future.” as Gold's statements ended, a female child appeared in the view of Ubel that came from the kitchen of the room. “I have so many bodies to cater to every of my client’s needs.”

“Uhhhh… sorry but I have better taste.” Ubel made a disgusted face upon knowing what Gold implied in showing the body of an underage girl.

“Pardon me,” Gold apologized and showed another female doll in lingerie, this time it had a mature appearance and feel to her. Something that has an older sister vibe. Three of them started speaking at the same time. “Is this your taste?”

Ubel was impressed. Not with the girls but with the reveal that Gold was also a capable Neuromancer. Even he had a hard time separating his consciousness on different proxies. He could only control a single droid at once while leaving others in a command structure that depended on his last saved orders. It seemed that Gold had a better capability of controlling several dolls at once. And it’s probably that, Gold could control a lot more.

“Technology truly is truly a fascinating thing.” Ubel let out his sincere impressed voice. “Do you provide upgrades or open to teaching neuromancy?”

Gold shook their heads and replied.

“Unfortunately, that is our trade secret that is not part of the merchandise.”

“Shame. But it is truly a mesmerizing thought that such a thing is possible.”

“That is flattering coming from someone with nanotechnology.” Gold grinned.

“I am starting to get curious also on seeing you in person,” Ubel said, implying that he wanted the real individual behind Gold.

“Although that is not part of the merchandise it is a possibility,” Gold replied.

“Then I shall hope for such an encounter” Ubel patted his legs and stood. "Now that our business is concluded in a good twist, I'm curious to know more and what services you will provide in my later visits."

“As am I.”

Then a droid went to Ubel and bowed.

“Please let me guide you to the exit.”

“Thanks, Gold.”

But before he could leave, Ubel turned back, giving a life jacket of tip.

“Gold. Mankind had once ascended towards godhood. But something happened. Investigate that and maybe… it will help even the powers for this insignificant part of the Galaxy right before the main players notice this cluster. Because…” Ubel said loudly. “Sol was the center of it.”

“Truly…” the man sighed again heavily as he had stopped himself from getting surprised. But this statement made him mull for a moment and swore.

“I shall Mr. Ubel. I shall.”

Ubel nodded and disappeared into the darkness of the corridors. He was led to some kind of maze which finally led him to a door.

“Please continue moving forward until you reach another door. Thank you for purchasing our service, may you have a good day.” The droid bowed.

Ubel left the room through the door. After closing it, the door disappeared as the wall started to shift. Then he found himself in an empty white room which he realized to be an empty freezer. He walked straight to the door on the other side and finally entered the kitchen inside the establishment. He smiled as he went back to the main hall of the establishment, passing through the busy cooks and chiefs, preparing food and dishes.