Xiao stood awkwardly as she faced Vesna, Wattan and Puti. Vesna and Wattan were present since she needed their help with transporting whatever subcomponents were in the bay. Despite all her experience fighting as a pilot, she had no clue with logistics, especially with the cargo in the mechbay. As for Puti, she wanted an explanation after seeing Xiao’s message. What the three of them had in common was that they were all kept in the dark about the young woman’s participation in the fighting ring.

“Maybe you can explain how you joined the fighting ring?” asked Puhi.

“Remember that day you brought me here? I muttered something out loud, got a card from a recruiter and the rest is history.”

After a couple more questions, Puhi was finally satisfied with Xiao’s explanation. From these questions, the young woman realized that her squadmate wasn’t angry with her. If anything, Puhi appeared to be envious that Xiao managed to get a spot. After delving deeper into the matter, she learned that earning a spot wasn’t easy. Most applied for a spot and didn’t even get a reply, let alone a chance to fight in the arena. Xiao just happened to have applied in the right place at the right time. Her odds of joining were about the same as winning one of the bigger lotteries.

“Missus, I think you and Puhi can discuss the matter at a later date. Let’s see what’s inside the bay.”

Unlike Vesna and Puhi, Wattan actually wanted to see what Xiao got for her reward. She already stated that she had no clue what was inside as it could be some ordinary subcomponents. The head mechanic emphasized that the reveal was part of the excitement. He also claimed that the fighting ring, with all of its earnings, couldn’t possibly reward cheap subcomponents as that couldn’t convince the good pilots to stay. If anything, he expected some rare subcomponents that could help Xiao’s matches in the future.

“Is everyone present?” asked the same technician who informed Xiao of the procedures for retrieving the bay’s contents.

Seeing everyone nod, the technician asked for the key and inserted it into a keyhole. After entering a twelve digit code, the screen turned green and the bay doors started opening.

“We thank you for fighting in our arena! I hope the subcomponents are to your liking. Continue your performance and more rewards await you!”

The technician did a small bow before excusing himself. The others merely waited for the doors to fully open. These doors opened upwards and, as soon as they were fully open, the bay lights came on, revealing the contents within.

“What a treasure trove!” shouted Wattan as he eagerly ran in to see all the contents inside.

Xiao couldn’t suppress her smile as she watched Wattan enter the bay like a child entering a candy store. The man had to see and touch everything. Her smile disappeared once she stared at the first item, not recognizing what it was. She looked at all the nearby subcomponents and couldn’t name any of them. She looked to Puhi who simply shook her head.

“Don’t bother,” said Vesna before she pointed to Wattan. “I’ve known Wattan long enough to know that only rare and special subcomponents can get him this excited. None of us probably even know what these do even if we hear their names.”

“How are we going to get them out of here?” asked Xiao. “I’m assuming you have something planned already.”

Before Vesna could reply, Wattan stood between her and Xiao.

“Cancel those plans! These subcomponents are too valuable for standard transports! We’ll pay for the best transports!”

“Those cost a lot of…,” started Vesna but Wattan didn’t let her finish.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Tell Anthony to call me if he needs a reason,” said the head mechanic sternly. "I'm certain that he will agree with me."

With a sigh, Vesna called the Zavaso founder and reported the matter. She then handed her phone to Wattan.

“Yes, Anthony! I requested the best transports. Xiao herself won subcomponents made by the Alpha Van Manufacturing. We cannot save funds for such an incredible haul.”

Wattan returned the phone and, a minute later, Vesna ordered special transports for the goods. The head mechanic returned to looking through all the items, seemingly unwilling to leave. Xiao looked at Puhi.

“Maybe I’m just ignorant but what is Alpha Van Manufacturing?”

“I don’t know the details but they are one of the top manufacturers when it comes to mech subcomponents. Their parts are innovative and reliable. Even for the top mech pilots, acquiring a single part from them is considered a blessing. To think you got a full bay of it.”

Xiao screamed loudly internally, knowing that she hit the jackpot. She also realized why Puhi was already envious of her. Such rewards were hard to get. When an idea came to mind, she walked over to Wattan and whispered into his ear.

“Can we give some of this to Puhi? Maybe it will benefit us later on?”

She wasn’t sure how Wattan would respond. She had met plenty of collectors who refused to part ways with anything they viewed as valuable. Subcomponents from Alpha Van Manufacturing were probably among the rarest collectibles so she wouldn’t be surprised if the head mechanic refused.

“Sacrifice a few subcomponents to get on the good side of the Almasi family? That’s quite a move there! It’s a great trade as we have plenty to work with.”

Wattan then offered to pick the subcomponents they could gift Puhi. Since Puhi piloted a hornet, the head mechanic made sure to pick ones that work well with hornet mechs. After he finished selecting them and placed them on a separate pallet, Xiao pulled Puhi over to reveal her gifts.

“Why are you doing this for me?” asked Puhi.

“You’re my squadmate so it benefits me if you are stronger. Don’t forget that you created the opportunity for me by inviting me to the fighting ring. I think those two are good enough reasons to share a bit of my spoils.”

“Alright, I’ll accept your gift! We Almasi don’t forget about the generosity of others.”

Puhi then took out her phone and made a call. She was requesting a transport from her family to take her new possessions. Despite how hard Puhi tried, the young woman couldn’t completely contain the excitement within her. It was clear that she too understood the value of the goods as Wattan.

“Transport will be coming in an hour,” said Vesna. “Looks like we got lucky that they have enough transports available when we called. Otherwise, I’m not sure how we can get these out of here.”

“Why not use the usual transports?” asked Xiao.

“Picking transports depend on the goods you need to deliver,” said Wattan. “Your goods here are some of the best in the whole universe. As you can imagine, there will be certain powers that will eye them greedily. Most of our money is paid for the security that comes with the transports. The ones coming in an hour are among the best.”

What Wattan described made sense to Xiao. The young woman just never had to worry about these subcomponents in the past. She had always envisioned using the common stock parts for her mechs. This scenario had never played in her head so her research had been lacking.

“What if they lose the shipment?” asked Xiao. “They must pay a penalty, right?”

“Depends on what they lost,” said Vesna. “For our goods, they need to provide double the amount.”

“If that’s the case, then won’t certain organizations hire them and hire someone to mount an ambush?”

“Hiring anyone strong or dumb enough to mount an ambush isn’t cheap. It may not be worth it. They also have ways of finding leads on who hired the attacker so it’s not easy to get the penalty.”

The young woman could see how such security would deter most groups that rely on raiding as a way of living. The few that try might learn the hard way the consequences to their actions. For her, it was already a pleasant surprise to acquire the goods so she asked her earlier questions as a way to satiate her curiosity.

“Missus,” said Wattan after he had a chance to look at everything in the bay. “Once these subcomponents are in the safe hands of the security groups, I’d like to discuss the rest of the day about the shipment that arrived the other day.”

With the fighting ring occupying her attention, Xiao completely forgot about the ant specific subcomponents. Wattan, upon finishing his report, said that they needed to talk face to face. The head mechanic had high praise for the parts and felt that he couldn’t convey their incredible design over the phone. This need to arrive at the academy was perfect because Wattan also wanted to meet Vivian, stating that he would want to learn more about the individuals behind the project.