Even though I was pushed by Amber to pursue Ries, it still felt a little weird to me so nothing much happened between us for the next few days.

I did, however, notice that Amber and Lea went to spend more time with Ries than usual and I didn't even need to ask to know that they were most likely trying to get her to join our bedtime activities.

Naturally, I decided not to interfere, which was why nothing happened between us.

At least, for now…

We reached Linc Pleasure Station without any other incident, our new ship moving to dock at one of the 'arms' at the station instead of the hangar since our ship was too big to fit in there now.

I took the box that we were sent to retrieve and left the ship with the three girls.

Honestly, I had wanted to just do this alone since I was expecting to go in, drop it off, get paid and then fuck off from here. But all of them insisted on following along for some reason.

When I asked why, they just said that they didn't trust Linc.

I mean… Sure… I guess I could see why they wouldn't trust him, seeing that he's practically operating a station that primarily makes money off of people's vices… But he's been honest and accommodating to us so far…

Then again, they're all plans to draw us in to spend more Credits so I guess I should just shut up now…

The box itself wasn't really that heavy but I wasn't going to lug it around when I could just push it along on an anti-grav trolley so that's what we did.

As the doors cycled open, we stepped out of our ship and into the station, only to see a group of armed men standing outside waiting for us.

The leader raised an eyebrow at me, "Are you the Teran Mercenary Company?"

I gave him a wary look, "Yes… What do you want?"

He raised his hand in a placating gesture, "Ah… Sorry. We're part of Mister Linc's security detail. We're here to escort you to him. More specifically, to escort the package."

He nodded at the black box I was pushing in front of me.

Seems like Linc really, really wants this box.

"Fair enough, lead the way then."

We followed him into the station while the rest of them arranged themselves around us, forming a protective perimeter as we were escorted through the station.

Everyone that saw our group gave us a wide berth and even the drunks were either pulled away by their friends or they stumbled away from us.

I guess the regulars here recognised who our escorts were and didn't want to get in their way.

A train had been emptied for us and we were led directly to the tower where the Battle Royale would take place.

It also seemed like we had chosen a day where another Battle Royale would be taking place to deliver the box since there was a huge crowd gathered here, all of them heading to the tower itself.

The leader half turned to me as he walked, "Do you intend to join this week's Battle Royale? I can ask them to reserve a spot for you if you are."

I grimaced, "Sorry but we have places to be so no."

He nodded, "Pity… I would have bet on your group."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Yeah… Sorry, but I don't really want to stay here longer than I have to…

We were led to a security checkpoint before being led to a lift that brought us directly to Linc's apartment.

I'm just going to say that being stuck in the middle of a lift with several armed men surrounding you wasn't really a fun experience.

When the door opened to the same room that we had first met Linc in, the man himself was already seated there with Midori standing behind him as always.

He immediately stood up when he saw us walk in, "Tera! My current favourite Merc!! Looks like you actually manage to get the thing that I totally did not have a conversation about to ask you to get for me! Ahahaha!"

The guards who had been escorting me parted to allow me to push the trolley past them and I stopped in front of Linc.

"Here, the thing you requested. So what's the pay for this?"

He smirked at me, "Oh, not so fast, Tera. I still have to make sure everything is perfect first, you know? So what happened at the station?"

I raised an eyebrow, "I was sure Selby would have told you what happened."

"Oh he did, but I also want to hear it from you."

I shrugged, "Just pirates taking over the station. Apparently they stole stuff from their own pirate group and tried to flee with it but ended up getting their ship damaged which coincidentally led them to seek shelter on that station. They then took over using force and your guy had to lock the place down."

He nodded, "Sounds about right. Though he did say it was Mercs that went after those pirates?"

"Yeah, he said that to us too. But it seems like he was mistaken because we ended up meeting the pirate group they had escaped from in the first place. They had placed a tracker on the things they stole and were looking to get revenge on them. Which was how we knew they were behind it."

"Hmm… I see, I see. So… Did you open it?"

I gave him a look, "Open what?"

"The box of course. You're not telling me you didn't even try to open it?" He asked, gesturing to the black box in front of me.

I managed to stop myself from rolling my eyes as I replied to him seriously, "I admit I was tempted to but no, I did not."

He tilted his head to the side, "Wait, really? Not even a little peek? I was sure you would have opened it."

"I have not opened it," I assured him.

He thought about it for a moment before shooing me away from the box as he approached it.

I did as he asked and took a few steps back to rejoin the girls, watching Linc go over to the security console and type in the passcode in full view of everyone.

Wait, really? The passcode was seriously just four zeroes?

I mean… Not that I was trying to open it anyway but I'd think you would put a more sensible passcode than that…

The lock of the box clicked open and he pushed the lid open, which I can't help but lean forward to see what was actually inside it.

It was… Empty?

Linc's face immediately changed and he turned to glare at me while pulling out a pistol from underneath his jacket.

That seemed to stir up the others as the guards that had been escorting us immediately raised their guns as well while Midori also did the same as well.

"You… You thought you could steal from me huh?"

I panicked slightly, "Wait! We really didn't open it!"

"Then why is it empty?!"

"I don't know?! Maybe the pirates managed to open it and already took what's inside? But we never opened it!"

He took a step towards me, his gun still trained on my head, "Do you take me for a fool, Tera?"

Unexpectedly, Amber stepped in front of me to block his way and she glared at him.

"Don't you fucking take another step, you bastard."

"Oh? And if I do?"

"I'll rip your head off your shoulders and stuff it up the ass of your cold, dead corpse."

I just want to say that we are all unarmed at the moment, so the only protection we had were our shields which I don't think could last us that long if everyone here were to shoot at the same time… So why are you threatening him, Amber?!

Linc stared at her for a good long minute before his lips suddenly curled up in a smirk.

"Aha… Ahaha… Ahahahaha! Did you see that, Midori? I think Tera has her own version of you!"

He then lowered his gun which prompted everyone else to lower their weapons as well.

Err… What?

He waved at me, "Oh relax, that was a joke. The box was empty in the first place. The box itself was the package that I wanted you to deliver. Ahahaha!"

What?

He continued to laugh, "Hahaha! You should have seen the look on your face! I'm still surprised you didn't even try to open it though~ I've had other Mercs I hired who either tried and failed to open it, who managed to open it to find that it's empty and ran away, and even those who opened it and tried to deliver it like they never opened it. But it's very rare that one doesn't even try~"

I frowned, "Was this supposed to be a test?"

"Hmm… Well, yes and no. This wasn't the first time this happened and, honestly, like I said, the box itself was the package since it's a custom order that I would be using to seal-- Ah… Heh… To seal stuff. Anyway, I'll throw in a little bonus just for that~ And if you change your mind and don't mind me being your patron, just give me a call~"

No, no… You can't just pull a stunt like that and--

My Codex beeped, showing me a message that showed fifty million Credits had been transferred to me.

Oh, you have a great day too, Linc! We'll be off!