"Don't even mention it. Do you think I don't trust your ability to make money?"
So Hayden could only change the subject with a wry smile.
"You congratulate me on climbing the social ladder by marrying Karen, but aren't you now highly regarded by your father-in-law? Neither Peacock King nor Karen will directly hand over power to me, after all, I'm not even an employee of the Mitra Group."
Even Karen isn't one now. Of course, it wouldn't be difficult for Hayden to get a position with the Peacock King if he really wanted to, but that's another matter entirely.
"In comparison, I heard that you are now the personal assistant of Dhritarashtra, the King of the Nation, and the head of a key project, and are 'acting on behalf of the gods'."
Adam and Hayden were the same age. For a thirty-year-old, ordinary-born office worker, this was a position he desperately wanted.
However, Adam immediately shook his head in denial at Hayden's praise: "You're really exaggerating. Dhritarashtra basically only put me in charge of this cooperative project with Smoke Mirror Life Construction Company. With such little power, at most I'm just responsible for chatting with the executives sent by Smoke Mirror Company and being polite."
Uh, okay.
Since Adam dared to say that, Hayden decided to take it as truth for the time being.
"So, what kind of collaborative project is this exactly?"
He asked casually.
Adam smiled slightly, but did not answer directly: "This is top secret, and I definitely can't tell you the details. But we're good buddies, so of course I won't forget you if I find a way to make money."
“Our Mitra Group Americas branch recently has a large-scale cooperation project with Smoke Mirror Company. Because Smoke Mirror Company is not able to bring too many troops from South America, there are many places where manpower is lacking. We need to find a reliable military service company with long-term cooperation in New Jersey, or more precisely in the entire Evergreen State.”
He spoke slowly to Hayden.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make money. With the strength of your 'Retribution' company, as long as you bid for these items, you should have a sure thing."
Adam then projected several items onto the screen and gestured to Hayden.
"As long as you can sign a long-term contract, a big company like Smoke Mirror will definitely provide you with a steady stream of business. In this way, your mercenary company will have more stable income."
He continued, smiling,
“I’ve researched your company, and your weaknesses are quite obvious. Although you have many elites like yourself, each one is very capable and has a high average level, there are too few of them. If you really suffer losses, you will lack channels to replenish your talent.”
Hayden blinked, and everyone who heard it was secretly alarmed.
The loss of manpower isn't as serious as Adam made it out to be. Thanks to Angela's protection, none of the mercenary brats who were supposed to be "punished" have actually died yet—however, if they were to be lost, replenishing their ranks wouldn't be easy.
But what truly surprised Hayden was that Adam had not only investigated the "Retribution" company, but was also well aware of the recent predicament faced by the New Yatu mercenaries, who were gradually becoming unable to find work.
Because the environment and public security in New Seattle have been getting better and better recently.
In order to prevent competitors from controlling law enforcement, two or three large companies vying for market share in New Seattle returned this power to the federal government. And recently, the federal enforcement officer in charge of law enforcement in New Seattle happens to be Mr. Denton, that stubborn old man.
Most federal officials, even if they regain policing power, would probably not genuinely be interested in managing policing.
However, this Denton special supervisor was serious. He'd even dared to mess with the sons of gods before, so why wouldn't he target ordinary street criminals?
So recently, the security situation in New Jersey has improved to the point that even if you open a grocery store in a low-income residential area, you won't get robbed every month anymore.
As a result, the mercenaries in New Seattle started to lack work. The top-tier mercenaries simply went elsewhere to find food, since mercenary work is a skilled profession. But the lower-tier ones couldn't make it—were other places really short of third-rate thugs?
The better the security provided by the government, the less the people need to spend money on private military security services, which is quite normal.
"Many third-rate urban mercenaries are now unemployed. If you seize this opportunity and get a lot of orders from the Smoke Mirror Company, you can recruit a lot of new people for the company, select talent from them, and increase the scale."
Adam smiled and said,
"If you find managing it yourself troublesome, you can even subcontract the business given to you by Smoke Mirror Company to other freelance mercenaries, which can also make you a lot of money."
噫
What could Hayden say now? The information Adam was giving him was like a tiny leak from above, but the people below benefited immensely from it.
Even if Adam might have ulterior motives, this news is still quite beneficial to Hayden.
"The reason I specifically asked you to bid for the smoke mirror company's job is because it contains another potentially advantageous channel for you. You might be able to cultivate a good relationship with a big shot through this—but I won't go into details. You should be able to find out for yourself eventually."
Finally, Adam acted mysterious one last time, even winking.
————————————————————————
As soon as the call ended, Hayden immediately turned to Angela: "You heard what was just said too. How does it feel?"
Angela, who was standing behind him, tilted her head in surprise upon hearing this: "I thought Master didn't intend to get involved in the commune's affairs."
"Now that things have come to this, how can I possibly remain completely uninvolved?"
Hayden shook his head.
"Of course, you should handle the specific administrative matters. After all, I know my own limitations; I'm not cut out to be a leader or to run a business."
“But just as Karen is making all sorts of preparations to deal with the storm, I can’t just throw away such an important resource as the gun. Rather, it’s because I now have such resources that Adam came to me and offered me this opportunity.”
At this point, Hayden himself sighed.
He likes to be free and unrestrained, ideally someone who can eat their fill while the rest of the family is not hungry, but that's unlikely to be the case now.
In this era, no great power can come from within, especially if you want to change the world. You need human resources no matter what – human resources are resources, and human power is strength.
It's unclear what Angela gleaned from Hayden's words, but she did manage a smile.
"Actually, the commune's situation is not as difficult as you worry."
Then she went on to explain,
"Although there are fewer jobs in the city that require fighting and killing, there are still quite a few relatively gentle jobs. These include private detective work, ordinary security guard work, and occasionally helping to find lost cats."
Hearing her say that, Hayden frowned: "Isn't this kind of work enough to feed all the mercenaries in the company?"
“That’s true.” Angela nodded. “So most of the commune’s income now comes from guard work that needs to be carried out in the wasteland.”
After hearing what she said, Hayden understood a little.
Most free-spirited urban mercenaries dislike working in the wasteland. Working there is too dangerous and risky, with a high chance of death or injury. If injured or disabled, they're out of a job.
However, the "Retribution" company has Angela at its helm. She's a robot, so she doesn't exploit her mercenaries, ensuring fairness. She's also designed an algorithm to measure the value of labor and distribute profits, and provides a range of data support for their work. And most importantly, no matter what injuries the mercenaries suffer, Angela has a way to bring them back to life.
With this foundation, and the addition of Karen as a powerful figure, the mercenaries of the "Retribution" company are guaranteed a livelihood regardless of the economic climate.
"However, on the other hand, it is indeed true, as Mr. Adam said, that there are many unemployed second- and third-rate mercenaries in New Jersey recently."
As Angela spoke, she seemed to be deep in thought.
“If we select outstanding talents from among them, we could indeed expand the commune’s operations… But Master, didn’t you once say that Smoke Mirror Life Construction is a very, very bad company? Is it really a good idea to work for them?”
She said this not out of her own moral concerns, but because Angela knew Hayden's character very well. If "Retribution" really did sign a long-term contract with the Smoke Mirror Company, and then the Smoke Mirror Company asked them to do some evil deeds, Hayden would definitely be furious. Things would get really complicated then.
"Yes, we need to secure this contract that Adam mentioned."
But Hayden still said that.
"There are two reasons. The first is that even the worst mercenaries need to eat. There are fewer job opportunities for mercenaries in New Jersey now. If they don't have food, it will only become a social security problem, and then that supervisor Denton will arrest them and throw them in jail."
Many street mercenaries don't know what to do once they put down their weapons, while those who are used to solving problems with weapons are prone to causing trouble when peace and order arrive.
Hayden was also a street mercenary, and there was always a sense of camaraderie among them. He didn't want to see all those people lose their jobs and then be arrested or killed by the police.
This is the first reason.
"The second reason is that I really need to connect with the smoke mirror company and establish a connection."
As Hayden spoke, he picked up the dragon ball hanging around his neck.
“Previously, Alastor gave me information on the life magic-related research institutes under the Smoke Mirror Company and even instructed me on how to hack in and steal it. Now all I need to do is establish some connections with them and have a channel to start making my move.”
Why would you partner with a notorious smoke mirror company?
Ultimately, it was all for Hayden's ultimate goal and ideal.
There are some things he has never forgotten.
107: I am the strongest!
More than half a year ago, on the night when [Bojun] fought against the Vajrapani gods, Alastor handed over a series of organized materials on the Mithra Group and the Life Magic Research Institute under the Smoke Mirror Company to Hayden as a gift to support his future career.
The documents not only detailed which life magic projects the various research institutes of the two large companies were developing, but also meticulously instructed Hayden on how to hack into their systems and what vulnerabilities he could exploit to steal the information he wanted.
This gift can be said to have laid a brick for Alastor Hayden's long-cherished wish.
But having only a brick, only the menu of all the life magic research projects of the two large companies, and the method of stealing the detailed development information of these projects... still doesn't mean that you can directly steal them.
The root of hacking techniques lies in sympathetic magic, and the essence of sympathetic magic is magic cast through connections between concepts like cause and effect. Stealing data from a large company completely unrelated to you—even if Alastor provided Hayden with a ton of vulnerability information, even if Alastor himself was imprisoned in the Dragon Balls and hanging around Hayden's neck—wouldn't be that easy.
In comparison, establishing a "connection," or at least a slight link, makes it much easier to cast many sympathetic spells.
...It's much more convenient, but it's not without its difficulties. This is a point you absolutely must not get wrong.
That's why Hayden was so eager to establish a partnership with the smoke mirror company.
"That's it, I understand."
After hearing these words, Angela tilted her head.
"My master, is your intention to solve the unemployment problem of the New Yatu mercenaries and to find an opportunity to obtain the life magic development data of the Smoke Mirror Company?"
Why ask this question specifically?
Hayden nodded naturally: "I see."
"I understand."
So Angela said those words again, then turned around and started working, though it was unclear what she was busy with.
Actually, it's embarrassing to say...
Despite Hayden's many high-sounding pronouncements, he was often not the one actually responsible for bidding and signing contracts with smoke mirror companies.
Angela can basically handle anything that can be done online, either herself or by sending someone else. These days, there are very few things that can't be done well online. Even if there is, she can delegate it to Eric.
Why? On what grounds? What has Eric done to deserve this?
However, there were indeed reasons for this. Eric was Hayden's apprentice, his disciple, and also the current mercenary leader of the "Retribution" company. From a customary and procedural standpoint, Eric was qualified to run errands for Hayden. Furthermore, Eric had been groomed by his family as a business heir, making him far more adept at these tasks than Hayden.
...So, while his wind-up bride was busy with those formalities and negotiations,
What exactly is Hayden going to do now?
In his workshop, he pulled out a small forging furnace.
What is this for?
Hayden certainly wanted to build something.
If he were to actually venture into the wastelands to find adult serpent dragons, Hayden would need to prepare sufficient equipment. Adult serpent dragons are by no means weaker than ordinary gods. Hayden might not be unable to defeat them now, but it's clearly not a fight he can win easily.
Moreover, Hayden's main magic staff is now somewhat unusable.
His bronze scepter, which he had used for several years and had personally crafted many years ago, his favorite main magical artifact, had almost melted in the fierce battle at the camp last time and wouldn't last much longer.
There was nothing he could do about it. Hayden made this scepter himself less than two years after becoming a mercenary. At that time, he obviously couldn't afford any particularly expensive materials, but he used his ingenuity and a decent amount of pure bronze as a base, engraving intricate runes on it.
This scepter, which shone like a bronze mirror when it was brand new a few years ago, has dimmed considerably, but still retains a dignified and profound luster. Any spellcaster who has studied ancient magic would praise it as an exquisitely crafted magical artifact upon close examination.
But that's pretty much it.
Hayden was recently enhanced by Hela, the Goddess of Death, at the Peacock Palace, significantly improving all his basic attributes. Even if this bronze scepter could be repaired, it could no longer meet even the most basic performance requirements Hayden needed.
To use an RPG analogy, it's like a level 60 mage wielding a staff they crafted themselves at level 30. Can they use it to cast spells normally? Of course, but are the stats on that equipment okay?
Obviously, there's more to it than meets the eye!
To be honest, Hayden's physical abilities have gradually reached a superhuman level.
He had been training his body before, and now he had reached a new level, especially in terms of defense, which was beyond human capabilities. Ordinary daggers and knives could no longer cut through Hayden's skin. Although he hadn't become invincible, even the cold iron bullets of pistols had difficulty penetrating his muscles.
By focusing his attention, Hayden could now sense several changes in his magic power, with its upper limit increased considerably. He was likely to melt it completely by simply casting a [Meteor Explosion] on the scepter.
Demons, gods, all sorts of unknown monsters and threats—Hayden still has many enemies to fight. He can't continue using an inadequate artifact just because he's used to the bronze scepter.
Therefore, it is time for him to forge a new main artifact.
Fortunately, Hayden was used to being poor, and he made most of the magical artifacts himself; otherwise, things might be even more complicated now.
"For a scepter made of ordinary bronze, you have experienced battles with gods, high-ranking demons, and even war gods. You have had many active stages. Your life has not been in vain."
Hayden talked to himself while looking at the bronze scepter, and then hung it on the wall of his studio as a memento.
"It's a pity I'm not good at naming, otherwise I should really give you a good name."
Incidentally, although Hayden had fought high-ranking demons and even war gods with this bronze scepter, he had never used it to deliver a crucial attack. This further demonstrates that it truly should be replaced.
Then Hayden rummaged through the storage cabinet, trying to figure out what materials he could use immediately.