Before Marcel went back down to the basent, Mr. Nobody returned his sniper rifle—"Martha"—to him.
And even though he praised it to the skies and insisted that he’d only managed to complete the job thanks to it, the old man’s face still turned pale with horror.
It was no surprise, since, as far as he could tell, ’Martha,’ just like Mr. Nobody himself, had gone through a real hell of sand.
Suppressing his inner anguish, Marcel swore he would clean every grain of sand off her and went to get the wolf suit.
Mr. Nobody’s signature suit.
While waiting for the old man, he decided to check the list of official privileges upon reaching the Diamond rank.
"The Diamond rank is also divided into three stages. Mine is the very first one and is called "Uncut Diamond." The profit percentage from contracts has increased to seventy percent, and its base value has also gone up. Along with that, I’ve earned the right to live on one of the floors of the Neocorp Tower, which I’ll gladly ignore... Is that right, Paymax?"
"Yes. And even though you swore you wouldn’t live in that tower, you’ll still have to visit it to receive most of the privileges."
"Right into the wolves’ den...? What do you an, Paymax?"
"Starting at the Diamond level, you’ll have access to joint missions. These missions involve teamwork with rcenaries controlled by various districts and factions. As a rule, the gathering, briefing, and mission prep of rcenaries takes place right in the Neocorp Tower."
"Huh? But why would I need that? I prefer to work alone."
"I think once you see even one such job, you’ll forget what you said. As a rule, these missions are much larger in scale than what you’re used to. The rewards and risks are also significantly higher."
"Risk everywhere... Sounds intriguing. Fine, what cos with it?"
"Your Diamond achievent will have a positive impact on our research facility. I assu the synthesis of that material will finally be completed, and you’ll be able to use it as you see fit. I’ll also be able to redirect my resources toward other goals, such as developing new weapons, gear, or spy gadgets. Also, I’ll most likely even be able to add more songs from your lost mories to your player."
Mr. Nobody jumped up from his seat in astonishnt.
"Are you serious?! What will I need to do for this?!"
"Observe how research is conducted inside the Neocorp Tower. I’ll handle all the research work myself; you’ll just need to visit their labs and study their finest inventions. Of course, if you feel like it, you can steal sothing. That will speed things up considerably."
"Paymax, you really are the best! I authorize increasing the friendliness setting to fifteen percent!"
"Always happy to do my best for you, dear Mr. Nobody!" Paymax’s tone instantly beca livelier. The hologram of the planet erged from the bracelet and, smiling contentedly, gave him a thumbs-up.
Sotis it was very easy to please Mr. Nobody.
...
Next, Paymax gave him a general overview of the Diamond Rank privileges.
This included access to the shared corporate network of all Concord’s top rcenaries.
The legal ability to schedule a eting with the leaders of all factions. Of course, whether they agreed to the eting was up to them.
The ability to rent any advanced weapon or equipnt for the duration of a contract, directly from the Neocorp corporation.
It also opened up a multitude of major league social interactions, such as access to markets, auctions, and high-level etings...
And, of course, the main reward.
A completely free chance to obtain imnse power.
The chance to take the First Step on a path sanctioned by Concord.
In this world, where everything revolved around the number six, this was the Seventh Path...
Needless to say, it was nothing short of blasphemy—a perversion of the very laws of nature.
The Seventh Path, created personally by Big Brother — the Peak of Knowledge.
That was its na — the Path of Concord.
Basically, these were the main legal rewards upon reaching the Diamond rank.
...
"Old man, do you know of any shelters where they don’t try to turn the kids into puppets of the authorities and instill a cockroach ntality in them?"
"Hmm... Above ground? In Como or Norwich? I don’t think that’s possible... But in the ’underground’ of Southville—sure. My son even has a couple of friends from those places, and they often hang out at our house."
Mr. Nobody had already told Marcel part of what happened during the gig. He didn’t ntion certain details, including Kuronuma’s "origin." Of course, for the old man’s safety.
"The underground... Given her circumstances, I don’t think it’s a suitable place for a girl. Besides, Southville doesn’t seem like such a safe place right now."
"Don’t talk nonsense just because of your paranoia!"
"Shelters won’t work... We need to find soone who’ll take care of her, won’t betray her secrets, and won’t be prejudiced because of her background. Essentially, soone incredibly exceptional for Concord," he said, a conflicted look on his face
"Oh. I think I know soone like that." Marcel nodded and added.
"Hmm... What? Seriously?!" he replied, stunned. It was truly hard to believe.
"Yep... There he is." Marcel smiled and pointed straight at him.
Mr. Nobody was speechless.
Co to think of it, he really was the best person for the job. Plus, those small, warm feelings that this girl stirred up in him...
"Judging by the look on your face, you’ve already taken a liking to her." Marcel patted him on the shoulder and pointed at the girl outside the window. "And she’s taken a liking to you, too, actually."
"..." He looked out the window.
Kuronuma, wearing a helt, sat on a motorcycle with the engine off. The girl is trying to steer and twisting the throttle, imagining a high-speed race, with the cat sitting on her lap.
On top of all that, she was amusingly imitating the sound of the engine, like "Vrooom..."
It was... surprisingly cute.
"I think it would be great if you had soone you could take care of. Like a little sister, you know?"
"A little... brother?"
His expression beca unbearably heavy. It was as if, for a mont, he had just rembered sothing... sothing that was now causing him unbearable pain.
"Hmm, why ’brother’? She’s a girl. What are you talking about?"
"...Nothing. I don’t rember anything anyway." He sighed and, forcing a smile, turned to Marcel. "Old man, don’t you know what they call ?"
"Haa..." Marcel sighed wearily.
"I’m Mr. Nobody, you see? Anyone would do a better job taking care of a little girl... than nobody."
"...You’re hopeless." Marcel shook his head. "But who are you going to give the girl to in the end?"
"Who’s best at hiding sothing from the wolves? The wolves themselves."
"Could it be..."
"Hand the suit, Marcel. We’re heading straight to the Neocorp tower right now."
"..." While the old man was still processing his idea, Mr. Nobody turned to his assistant.
"I’m sure of it. Only those two can hide Kuronuma... Paymax, contact that woman."
"Would you like to make a call?"
"...Just send her a ssage with the details of our problem. She won’t want to talk to ."
"Done!"
"Then let’s go."
Pulling on his wolf’s skin, he headed straight for the wolves’ lair.
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