I told my girls everything I’ve learned in that eting with Kaito.
"So... We have to sneak that... Thing... Into a highly fortified base?" Ries asked.
I nodded, "Pretty much."
"How would we even do that?"
"Well... I have a few ideas... One of which involves Renata sneaking it in there which should be doable since she’s already shown she could swallow the entire thing without changing her actual size..." I pointed out.
In fact, the turtle was still stuck inside Renata at the mont, even though all the police officers had already left our ship. It was still better to be safe for now so we kept it hidden in case soone suddenly showed up again or sothing.
Renata grinned at , "Then should I head over there right now, Daddy?"
I shook my head, "Not yet... I’m still not sure whether this guy is actually telling everything. For all I know, he might actually be lying this entire ti just to get on his side so I want to find out if he’s telling the truth first."
Mara tilted her head at , "Do you want to go read his mind, Captain?"
I shook my head, "Unfortunately, I doubt I would be able to go et him again as he expressly stated that he doesn’t want our conversation to be brought up ever again so he’ll probably turn away from his office until this job is done."
"Mmm... In that case... Are you planning to talk to that Yuki woman then?"
"That’s what I was thinking... But first..."
I pulled out my Codex and rang up Clent.
The call needed a few monts before it was answered, the smuggler hiding himself sowhere before he turned to look at the screen.
"Mistress T?" He greeted , using the na that my girls told him to use. "Ah! You’re checking in, right? I’m very happy to let you know that we’ve been really successful with your sales so far! I’ve found a few good buyers for your stuff!"
I nodded, "Hmm... That’s good. Any problems on your side?"
"Not at all, Mistress T! This is what we’re familiar with, after all! We know what we’re doing here!"
"Good. Depending on how much you got for us, I might even pay you a bonus too."
His eyes lit up, "Re... Really?! Oh! I will not disappoint you, Mistress T! Thank you!!"
Hey, got to give him so carrots to reward him, right?
Especially when I need this from him for the next part...
"Hey Clent..."
"Yes, Mistress T?"
"Just letting you know... We’ve reached the station that we were supposed to deliver that turtle to... How do we... You know..."
He gasped, "Oh!! You’re supposed to send out a ping that can only be detected by them! I forgot about that! Let send you the frequency you need to use! Once they detect your ping, they will contact you and ask ’Is the shell prepared’ and you’ll have to answer with ’It has yet to co out’."
What the heck kind of arrangent is this with that secret code? Is this so noir cri flick or sothing?
Whatever...
I nodded at him, "Don’t suppose you know who you are delivering to?"
He grimaced, "I... Might have an idea, but I was not explicitly told who it was... Just that they are really powerful in terms of influence."
"Who is it?"
"Well... I believe it’s a person called Yuki Nakamura, she runs a syndicate family within the Inner Colonies and has a lot of influence in the private security and arms trade market. That’s what is publicly known at least... But for people like us who deal in the black market side of things, we know that she also has fingers in that as well and has a criminal network big enough to ruin your life if you ss with her... Especially for soone who is relying on working inside this market for a living..."
"I see... Does she have rivals or sothing?"
He chuckled, "Ahahaha, of course she has. While she might be quite influential, she doesn’t exactly have a monopoly on anything. There’s rival syndicates and companies who are always looking to try and get a bigger share of the market for themselves. Which is actually good for freelancers like us since we can use them as cover for our own activities, hahaha!"
"In that case... What do you know about this guy called Kaito Matsumoto?"
Both Ries and Yumiko cried out at the sa ti.
"Did you just say Kaito Matsumoto, Boss?!"
"Mistress, you t Kaito Matsumoto?!!"
I blinked at them, "Eh? Did I not ntion that guy’s na? Like, the one that I told you I t was him?"
All my girls shook their heads.
Ah... I think I’ve been calling him ’that CEO guy’ to my girls this entire ti... My bad.
"Judging by your reactions... I’m guessing this guy is soone that is well known?"
I thought Ries would start praising him or sothing, only to see her suddenly scowl and scrunch up her face in disgust, "He’s the founder of Kaito Business Holdings... A private security company that only recently rose to be one of the bigger security companies by buying out other smaller companies and, allegedly, recruiting a whole bunch of forr criminals and, also allegedly, engaging in piracy with them to fund his business... That’s not even the worst part as he has invested in several arms manufacturers that have made weapons and gear that he refuses to release to the public! All that firepower and he keeps it for himself!!"
Ok... Umm... I find it ironic that she thinks the latter part is worse than him using criminals to engage in piracy because I’m pretty sure it’s completely reasonable and legal for him to make weapons for his own company’s use and not sell it to the public...
But hey, what do I know, right?
I then turned to Yumiko and she also had a scowl on her face and I could guess why.
"He’s... Matsumoto’s cousin..." She seethed, looking like she wanted to strangle soone.
"Ok... Err... I’m assuming he did sothing to you guys as well?"
"Where did you think he got the money to buy up the smaller companies from? When my unit was declared ’lost’, he seized all of his cousin’s assets and used them for himself."
Ok... Yeah... Now I’m really thinking that it’s good that we didn’t just trust this guy for just his word...
I turned back to Clent and he realised I wanted his opinion as well.
He scratched his head, "Umm... I’m not too sure about him since... I don’t think he’s involved with the black market... But I guess I have heard of that company from ti to ti, that’s all I know."
"Right... Then do you know why this Yuki person would want that turtle you’re smuggling?"
He paused and looked around, as though to make sure there was no one around him before he leaned forward to whisper.
"This is... Just assuming that she is the one who wanted that creature to begin with... But I heard that she keeps so kind of zoo where she collects weird creatures for herself or sothing. I don’t know if this is true but that’s what I’ve heard at least..."
Hmm... Interesting...
Ok, let’s not jump to conclusions yet.
I nodded at Clent, "Thanks. Send the details and I’ll ping the client to see what’s going on. Also... My maid?"
He blinked, needing a mont to realise I was asking about Renata’s clone.
"Ah! She’s still with us, Mistress T! Should I call her here?"
"No need. I’m just wondering how you’re going to return her to ?"
"Eh? Ah... She said that she would find her own way back to you once we finalised the sale. Should I take her back after all?"
Renata wants to co back by herself? Well... I guess she could do that so I don’t need to worry about her... Seeing that she doesn’t even need a ship to travel around in space.
But I wonder how fast she’s able to fly in space because if she’s limited to just her montum... I think it might take centuries or more for her to even reach us from wherever she is.
I waved at him, "If that’s what she told you then it’s fine, you don’t need to worry about her. She can handle herself."
"Oh, I know that from first hand experience."
I paused and narrowed my eyes at him.
He quickly raised his hands, "Ah!! I an... We were intercepted by an Insurgent ship that wanted to rob us... She basically killed their entire crew by herself! We didn’t do anything to her!"
Hmph... Good.
"Fine then. Just send the details and I’ll get in touch with the client."
He saluted, "Right away, Mistress T!"
The call was cut and I leaned back to let out a breath.
Guess things were more complicated than we thought.
User Comments
0 comments from readers