"I'll consider it for 2000 Yenos. Upfront. This condition is non-negotiable."
Ashton could barely hold his poker face as he blatantly asked for money in exchange for helping the Gold Water mercenaries.
The look on the mercenary's face said it all. They were probably expecting Ashton to start jumping at the thought of helping a renowned group like theirs. After all, it wasn't every day when Gold water mercenaries would need help from a nobody like him.
If there were any other low-rankers present there, they would have jumped at the opportunity to just go on a job with them and have it on their resume. Hell, they might even start beating the crap out of each other to get the spot. But no, this man was built differently. He did not share the same mindset as the rest of them.
As soon as Ashton placed his demand on the table, the merc was left baffled. Ashton knew it very well that the mercenaries were in a hurry and since he was the only one that could help them, he decided to monopolise the opportunity for him.
'It's the least they can do for me. After all, it was thanks to them I couldn't take the job earlier than them.'
[You greedy bastard... I like it. Milk them dry, I say.]
'You say a lot of things.'
"Please wait while I discuss the matter with the captain." The mercenary excused himself and went to talk with Square face.
There was a reason why Ashton asked for 2000 Yenos and not more. Because the reward for completing the job was 2000 yenos. Rather than completing the job and then getting his reward, Ashton wanted the money upfront.
Not to mention, since he was going to be accepting the job, the moment it was complete the reward would be credited to his account. So basically, he would be making 4000 Yenos from 2000 Yenos worth of a job.
'As a wise man once said: This is business.'
[Damn, your negotiation skills are definitely better than mine, you cold-blooded opportunist!]
'You learn these things with time.' Ashton smiled.
After deliberating for a couple of minutes, some who appeared to be quite close to Square-face himself came up to negotiate with Ashton. The man appeared to be a Giholo, the same species that attacked earth before Xyrans crashed the party. Although he had an aura of superiority around him, Ashton knew he wasn't much stronger than him.
Even his partial transformation should have been enough to teach the alien brat a lesson. The only reason Ashton did not lift a finger on him was because of their unknown S-grade backer.
"I am Kern 'Oma, the Deputy captain of the 1892nd squad serving under the Gold water mercenary group." Kern 'Oma offered his hand for a handshake.
Ashton used [Detection] and realised there was a suspicious powder spread across the palm. Had it not been for the training he went through on Euphoria, Ashton might not even noticed the thing on Kern's hand.
Ashton looked at the information he received through [Detection] and as it turns out, it was some sort of a sleep-inducing drug in powdered form. Kern was probably planning to make him sleep and then take advantage of him.
'These fuckers...'
[Looks like he wants to sleep with you. Go for it, tiger, get him!]
'Keep your fetishes to yourself, fucking wanker.'
Ashton was a bit heated now. He simply wanted to do business, but these fuckers wanted to put him to sleep and then forcefully make him accept the job request? Obviously, the robots would try to stop them from doing something like that.
But then again, the way they have been letting the mercenaries do whatever they pleased, they might not do anything more than urge them not to do something like that. In that case, as a responsible asshole, it was his duty to teach the fucker a lesson.
Ashton shook Kern's hand without any delay. As soon as he did that, a smile flashed across Kern's smiled thinking their plan was a success. But before he could do anything else, Ashton shoved his hand right into Kern's face.
It only took a couple of seconds for the drug to take effect, but the next moment, Kern was on the ground, sleeping like a child. Ashton grabbed him by the neck and threw him straight towards the mercenaries.
Surprisingly, Ashton did not raise his voice or anything at the mercenaries. Instead, he approached the Ena-bot and stared her down menacingly.
"If I am correct, there's a law that prohibits mercenaries from attacking each other while they are inside the tower, right?" Ashton asked with a forced smile before pointing at the mercenaries, "One of them attacked me, so what kind of punishment is it going to be for them?"
"Sir, I'm not sure what you're saying?" the strange Ena-bot replied, "If anything, you're the one who attacked them. All they did was to show a friendly gesture when you knocked the man out for no reason whatsoever."
Square-face then scoffed, while the rest of them started laughing loudly. Ashton was in a pickle. While it was true they tried using the drug on him, it wasn't visible to the naked eye. Also, since Ena-bots were programmed to aide the high-ranking mercenaries in any way they could, she wasn't going to accept anything that would put a blame on her clients.
It was for that same reason, that she was assisting them by claiming Ashton was in the wrong. Although he had expected Ena-bot to do something to sweep the mess under the rug, he did not expect her to so blatantly side with the wrongdoers.
'These corrupt pieces of shit!'
[Ashton you have to control your anger. It is not the right time to react in a hostile manner. We'll deal with them later. For now, just get yourself out of this mess.]
'I swear these bastards are going to regret pulling shit like this on me...' Ashton took a deep breath, 'But you're right, I need to defuse the situation first.'