"Well, let's say I provided all the raw material necessary to make these items, could you and your team get it done?"

She looks down at the papers again, flipping through and making notes on a paper beside them all.

"The volume is way too high for me to do alone. I have a few craftsmen under me, but none of them are high enough grade or level to handle a majority of these orders..."

Bri continues flipping through the papers, so I reply.

"What if I power-leveled your craftsmen in a dungeon, and gave them upgrade crystals to bring them all to legendary grade?"

Bri looks up at me.

"If you can get your hands on enough of those for all 6 of my craftsmen downstairs, that would work."

She looks at the papers very thoroughly, making more and more notes on a separate sheet, then hands it to me.

"We could fulfill these orders. Everything from Sector 3 and 4 would be manageable. All of the Sector 1 and Vice Regions standard items are doable, but the above 120% buff enchants are not capable at my level no matter the crafting materials. The upgrade and teleport crystals aren't possible for me to do either, I assume all of those used to be sourced from Sector 2. Unless excessive mana crystals are provided and large amounts of specific blood to bond certain skills or abilities to items, a lot of these higher grade enchants are not easily replicable."

She pauses, thinking to herself for a moment before carrying on.

"Anything over a double element stone bonds won't be possible for me either - and yeah, not a single one of the Apex Region's order items can be done by team to fulfill either. Even if we were all legendary grade, each one of these items are priceless treasures. I had no idea that region was buying items like this, but it makes sense... That Region has 4 A-Class hunters and tons of B-Class hunters too, recruited from the yearly exams. They probably run through gear like this in training all the time. I'm sure they'd want to stock up a lot right now, considering another wave of new recruits will be coming in soon."

I nod slowly, looking at the paper.

"Still, this is enough to move over 100 platinum worth of product per month."

I reach into my item storage and pull out a single platinum bar, along with one of the speed fragments, ice scales, and a few swords from the Red Ogre dungeon I farmed last night.

Placing the rare items that most likely have never seen the light of day outside Valor City, I speak up.

"So, will you take these as an apology for the scare earlier? I just wanted to be positive I could trust you with my plan to take over the Sector 2 trade route."

Bri's eyes scan the gear on the counter, and she even touches some, activating her craftsmanship skill to analyze the rarity and stats on the items before her.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Apology accepted."

She smiles.

"Although, there's no need. We'll just call it payback for the first time you showed up here asking for your sword and I almost got you killed by forcing you in that fight ring."

I sigh and roll my eyes while she lets out a chuckle.

"Sure, we'll call it even."

"Anyway, these materials are at a higher grade than pretty much anything I usually craft. I'd be hitting my upper limits using them. Any higher quality and the end crafting result would all be the same."

Her eyes track over to the small bar of platinum beside all the materials.

"So, this is the kind of money you're working with now, isn't it... I'd like to know what happened to you, and what exactly I'm getting involved in before I fully agree. Start from the beginning. Who did you get these lists from? What is your true goal with this business deal? And most importantly, how did you die, who knows you're alive, and how long is it going to stay that way?"

I lean in and start to explain.

With the Hush Barrier raised and still on full power, for the next hour, Bri and I talk business.

First, I start with the power imbalance that occurred after the Sector 2 leader was defeated, and my meeting with the powerful Sector 1 businessman, Lith Galeheart.

Bri surprisingly reacts in a calm manner.

"Yeah, I've heard of him. Never formally met, but I've seen him show up to a few auctions."

Next, we discuss logistics. I don't know what the situation in Sector 2 is yet, so building this larger scale operation might be better off done right here in Vice City.

I smile to myself once finishing my proposal.

"That's right. Everyone that does business with me will assume everything is produced in Sector 2, but in reality, it will be a front. All valuables and production will be kept here. With your zero-contact agreement already in place with the Association, it's like my enemies are protecting their own worst nightmare."

Bri gets a kick out of this idea but won't go into full detail about the exact conditions of her brother's contract. However, by the end of our conversation a few details become a bit more clear.

I explain the situation in the dark continent, when my team's mission all started. It was all going fine until the total freakout happened with a few organizations once they learned we ran into demonic energy.

Her eyes widen at this portion of the story and I remember Rodrigo having multiple Demon's cores, and even an Arch Demon's core so he's definitely cleared a labyrinth over 20 levels in his past.

"So they know you have a core too? That's exactly why they forced my brother into a life-binding contract at such a young age."

"Well - they did. Until Lith faked our capture and deaths, every single one of us. I've been hiding very carefully since then. Other than 2 rogue assassins a while back, no one else has come looking for me. The cover up seems to have worked pretty well."

Bri replies.

"Over here outside those walls, there's a whole different story going around. Two years of Elite Squads killed in a dungeon break to save millions of lives. What a headline."

She pulls out a new paper from a few weeks ago, and we both have a good laugh reading it.

Another hour passes, and we consolidate potential plans for expanding her building of operations here but put it on hold until I get confirmation back from all the buyers involved along with the dungeons to get all of the crafting materials needed for this job.

"Sounds like we've come to quite the agreement here. I look forward to making a lot of money together."

I stand up to shake Bri's hand.

"Pleasure talking over our future business too. Come back once you have all the plans for moving forward. Next time, just knock."

I smile and release her grip.

"Got it."

I deactivate my Hush skill, throw my ring of concealment on, reactivate stealth, and disappear before her eyes. I walk down the steps right out the front door.

While walking down the street away from the brick building, the two guards out front scramble to close the door that just mysteriously opened on its own.

One argues that it was the wind, while the other looks around with a serious expression trying to find an intruder. About 15 seconds later, they forget about it once they can't come to a conclusion and go back to their usual business standing guard as I turn a corner and make my way back to the dungeon hub.