They continued their discussion on gaming and how they would need to contact the IP and convince them to make a deal. In this case, Robin would have to talk with them and work out a plan. Of course, he wasn't cruel enough to buy the IP from them because if the games were to become successful, it would certainly be fraudulent.
After exiting the discussion, Robin and the others looked around. They weren't done with the VR experience yet. In addition to gaming and leading a corporate life from the comfort of their homes, there were other types of services in the city.
Robin had already noticed a particular shop, a massive building, and knew that once his gaming adventures were over, he would have to visit it. After a few minutes of walking, he arrived at the large building.
At the top, in neon and huge signs, it read:
"Neo-Galactic Bounty Hunter Organization."
The entrance had a revolving door, so he and his friends walked right in. Upon entering, he was a little taken aback by the large number of small message boxes slowly floating around. There were multiple of them, and they moved slowly enough for everyone to read.
"Wanted: My pet - Kohuj. Bounty: 500 credits. Species: ..."
"Wanted dead or alive: Tomora. Bounty: 15,000 credits. Species: ..."
"Wanted alive: Gokip. Bounty: 500 credits. A plant which grows..."
The bounties floating around were numerous, and occasionally, someone would accept them. Most of the bounties didn't seem to belong to the galaxy itself, as he had yet to see a member of the Luminary Collective in any of the bounty posters. Another thing Robin noticed was that there were actually very few people who actually belonged to the Luminary Collective or were born in it.
It seemed like a gathering of different kinds of aliens from around the universe. Robin and his friends felt excited seeing them. Another odd thing he noticed was that, despite the bounty posters floating above, there didn't seem to be any formal counters. Instead, it felt like they had walked into some rowdy restaurant.
Robin felt like he was in some kind of medieval tavern, or perhaps one of those bars he had seen in Star Wars but more sophisticated. The place was much larger than the one he had seen on Tatooine in the movies.
He and his friends approached the bar, where there were multiple bartenders. It was interesting to see that even in the universe, alcohol was a kind of luxury, and perhaps water was like alcohol to some species here. The taste here could be simulated, and maybe the only difference was that they couldn't actually consume it physically.
Only the taste buds would be excited and satisfied. The VR world truly seemed like heaven for people who loved experiencing food without the consequences of gaining weight.
"What can I get you?" a bartender asked.
"Ummm... Do you have any coke?" Robin inquired.
"Right away," the bartender replied. She belonged to the Luminary Collective species, so he had seen her kind before in the city.
The bartender returned with several drinks in hand.
"If I want to post a bounty, where should I do that?" Robin asked.
"Oh, so you're new here. You can provide the details of the person to me, and I will post the bounty. Posting in the Luminary Collective Forum will cost you 50 Luminary credits, while posting in the Universal Forum will cost you 1 universal credit." (1000 Luminary credits = 1 universal credit)
"Do all the bartenders do this?" Robin was surprised that bartenders acted as intermediaries.
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"Yes. Any bartender here or full-time bounty hunter can do it. The full-time bounty hunters can also take the information and post it on the forum," the bartender explained.
"Hmm... I want to post a bounty for this person along with his small spaceship. And for the reward, I want to offer 2 kg of Vibranium," Robin said.
"2 kg of Vibranium? What's that?" The bartender was not surprised that Robin didn't come with credits but with a barter system. Many people found it challenging to obtain universal or even galactic credits, and the bounty hunter organization earned a lot through this method, allowing them to charge customers a bit more for bartered items.
"You can look it up. By now, it should be on the Uninet," Robin replied with a smile. Without wasting a second, she looked it up. At first, she thought it was some common plant or material she hadn't heard of before.
However, as she read further, her eyes widened. She had to double-check what she was reading and make sure the person she was talking to was indeed Robin Kashyap.
"I... I..."
"Shhh... I know it's a lot, so can you keep it quiet that I posted it?" Robin asked, ensuring she didn't scream or freak out. There was a reason for her sudden change in composure. Robin had checked the bounties floating around, and most of them didn't exceed 150k credits. These bounties were indicated by different colors, with darker and different shades signifying higher bounties.
Robin's offer of 2 kg of Vibranium was sure to create shockwaves within the bounty hunter community, and that was precisely what he wanted.
He had placed a bounty on the Russian President, who had escaped with the spaceship. He didn't know where this individual had landed, but he was determined to use all the resources at his disposal to locate him. The bounty hunter organization existed because the laws varied between planets and galaxies, and it was not possible for law enforcement to search for someone missing in another galaxy. Consequently, the bounty hunter organization thrived, with multiple branches throughout the universe, with Neo-Galactic being the largest and having the broadest reach.
"I'll give you an extra 1 gram of Vibranium if you keep the whole thing under wraps and just post the bounty anonymously. I'll advance pay the 2 kg of Vibranium and keep it with the organization for 10 time units. (1 time unit = 3.5 years)"
Upon hearing this, the bartender felt like she was living in some kind of dream. 1 gram meant that she would be paid 10,000 universal credits. This amount was enough for her and her descendants to live a life of luxury for generations to come. She knew that Robin was the supplier because she had already looked up the information, and while there was no picture of the Vibranium seller, the seller's name was on the Uninet.
The material Vibranium was new, and almost nobody knew of it since there hadn't been much publicity. However, she believed that this material would sell like hotcakes, and she considered herself extremely lucky to have met the supplier of such an exotic substance.
"I will... I will immediately post it, and your name won't come up for sure," the bartender said, visibly shaking as she spoke. It all seemed too good to be true, but she knew she had to act on it.
For the payment, someone from the organization would come to collect it from Robin's current location, which was the spaceship on the capital of Zora, as Robin had already provided the information.
The bartender got to work. Within a minute, a bounty was posted as a message box, brightly colored in red, floating up for everyone to see. A collective gasp swept through the entire tavern-like restaurant. People set down their mugs and spoons with a loud clink, and conversations came to a screeching halt. The murmurs that followed were a mix of disbelief, excitement, and trepidation.
In one corner of the tavern, a grizzled old bounty hunter with eyes gleaming with avarice was overheard saying, "Did you see the size of that reward? 2 kg of Vibranium, which is worth 20 million credits. What the heck is Vibranium? I'd rather hunt this down."
People around soon began looking up what Vibranium was, and their jaws dropped in astonishment. They couldn't believe that a metal like that could cost so much, especially considering it had only come to light the day before.
"It's a fortune, no doubt. But it's also bound to attract every cutthroat and gunslinger within a hundred miles. We need a solid plan, and we need it fast."
"Who is this guy? I've never seen this species before, and I've been to multiple galaxies in my life."
"Some new species called humans. Hmm... More information about them has been classified, which means they belong to a high-tiered galaxy. Wait, the last sighting was in the Luminary Collective? Did a black hole turn into a white hole or something? How is the Luminary Collective connected to all of this?"
"Does it matter? We need to move now. And that spaceship with the insignia, we need to find out where that insignia came from. I've never seen it before."
"Yes... Yes... We can research the insignia on the go. Let's disconnect and meet up in real life. 20 million credits, and that's the sale price. It'll cost more if we hold onto it. We need to capture this guy or gather information about the material."
Such conversations were rampant, and within seconds, the entire restaurant became empty as bounty hunters rushed to take action.