"You boys still high with the last job? Be careful; overconfidence is the number 2 killer of all."

Harold said as he placed down a new batch of drinks.

"What's the first one?" Raze asked as he grabbed his drink.

Harold smirked and answered simply, "Relying too much on luck."

Axis turned to him, and Harold soon left to do his business.

"Really? That's great, boss. Wait what? But,,, Alright, thank you, boss."

The call ended and Troy looked at both of them.

"Good news and bad news—what do you want to hear first?"

He looked at Raze, and they both said at the same time.

"Badnews"

"Good stuff"

Troy clapped at hearing their different opinions and said, "Good news it is! The good news is that the chief agreed. He'll make us the sole takers of this mission as a test and to train us."

"And the bad news?" Axis urged Troy.

"The bad news is that Cohren will come with us." The second the name Cohren, seeped out of the mountains of Troy. Groans came out of both Axis and Raze.

"Cohren really? Fuck, we just graduated from his training; and his coming with us?? Guys gonna be all over us and yell at us again!" Raze complained as he slam the glass onto the table.

"Cancel the mission; let's just find another one; I'm sure we could." Axis opted to back out immediately, and Cohren's intense training and yelling were still vivid to him.

"Too late, I already agreed to the job; Chief already marked the mission."

"Well shit"

"Fuck. This one's on you, Troy."

"Come on guys, it's not that bad."

Raze looked at Troy as if offended by what he said. "Not that bad? Of course, it's not that bad because he didn't directly manage you! Ax and I know exactly what he's really like."

Axis supported Raze and then realized something and sneered at Troy, "And Cohrens all about that knowing your role and shit you know?"

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"So?" Troy tilted his head at Axis.

"Meaning you'd probably be in a tech support role."

As if God had given him a revelation, Troy's face paled, his mouth hung open, he cursed.. "Fuck..."

----------------------------------------

"Breathable indeed..."

Axis mumbled as he stretched his body. Underneath his jacket and pants was the protective suit he had just received. He especially liked that it was hidden underneath his clothing.

It felt good wearing expensive stuff, and the fact that it could stop small-caliber bullets was just the icing on top. He grabbed his credit card and avoided thinking of the amount he had left.

He had managed to duplicate an expensive piece of cyberware gear he 'inspected' from the gang's warehouse and sold it, allowing him to buy this suit.

Still, it left him with a small amount of money.

"Bounty it is."

It was the middle of the day. It will be on April 1 on Sunday that they will do the mission, so he planned to get some exp and try to reach a thousand before then. Though he highly doubted he could achieve that.

Current Exp: 173exp

There was still a long way to go before he could reach 1,000 exp.

Still, now that he had the suit, he could take a little more dangerous bounty.

"Here again. Don't you have anything better to do to fill your soul?"

"I am doing that; I am earning credits that can fill the emptiness of my soul."

Axis said to Harold as he looked at the list of bounty and opportunities available.

[Protection..]

[Search...]

One particular mission caught his attention.

[Suspected Kidnapped, Rescue Mission: Rescue the daughter of the client that is being held in Meave Neighborhood...

Description:...

Reward: 50 credits]

"Rescue mission? You didn’t shelve this?" Ax asked Harold.

Missions that give a lot of credit or that border on or over the legal means are basically shelved and reserved for the gang directly.

What Harold takes and gives to this bar is basically an open bounty that anyone can take. Of course, as a member of the Crimson Fang, he gets priority on the jobs.

"It's not exactly a kidnapped situation. And you saw the reward; it isn't there yet. Anyway, the right description is this..."

Axis leaned on him as he listened.

"A girl fell in love with some prick from a well-to-do family; you saw the mission location; anyway, the prick took the girl off against the father's wishes. Now the father is worried because of the prick's history, and he should be, and he wants to get his daughter back from them."

"And what of the daughter's opinion?"

"It doesn't matter if you see the guy's history."

Ax frowned and looked at the information Harold just sent him.

[Brigan Walkr: Age 20]

Features: long blonde hair, both information eye implants, about 1.85 tall, Militech implant v.1.

Family:

History...]

Axis looked at the portrait and the long history he had, more specifically, his 'record'...

[Broke someone's spine at age 15]

[Cuts his classmate's finger]

[He allegedly raped his teacher.]

"Christ..." Axis couldn't help but mutter, seeing such a psychotic history.

"How is this guy still walking around? Guy's a devil out in the open."

"Money, of course. When you got enough of it, you could pretty much do what you want. Besides, most of what he did those to were, well... 'commoners'"

Axis showed a disgusting expression.

"If the reward was a little higher, I would have sent it directly to the gang's mission board."

"I'd advise you not to take it," Harold added the last as a warning.

Axis saw the mission and considered it a bit. and finally shook his head...

"I won't"

It wasn't a problem of whether he could rescue the girl or not; it was about dealing with the aftermath. There's no way that guy will take it lying down if he takes something of his.

Unless he was absolutely confident that he would leave no traces, he also couldn't kill the guy. Otherwise, badgers will be on his ass.

"Well, let's look for something else then..."