Chapter 41: Stealing the Data
— Meanwhile – The Fringe —
In the Fringe, rumors were starting to spread. People were talking about the Red Vulture team, claiming they had lucked out by landing an idiot client with deep pockets. A million bucks of easy money like that? It was unheard of. Naturally, this drew a lot of attention to the Red Vulture group and drove them into hiding.
Several mercenary groups had already set their sights on them, especially those in desperate need of cash.
Many contacted the group, hoping to get a share of the payout, reasoning that Red Vulture couldn’t possibly venture into the Wildland. Some of the information Maximilian had fed them suggested that Rebecca had been kidnapped and taken to a secret base in the Wildland by an independent military faction operating within the UEC.
However, all the mercenaries negotiated from a position of strength. They knew what Red Vulture truly was—a third-rate hacker group with no combat personnel under their contract.
That meant these hackers had no means to survive in the dangerous Wildland. Because of that, every merc team demanded at least 50% of the share.
But... while small-time and a few mid-tier mercenaries took the bait Maximilian had laid out, the top-tier mercs didn’t bite. Why? Because they already earned more than a million dollars per job. This kind of payout wasn’t enough to catch their interest.
— Maximilian’s House —
Maximilian watched the developments unfold from the confines of his room after finishing the morning training session with Ricardo’s group. He monitored everything through various CCTV feeds and the bugs he had planted all over the Fringe—especially in the bar he visited previously. It gave him a crystal-clear picture of the situation.
[Max, it seems your plan isn’t as effective as you thought. Those top-tier forces and mercenaries aren’t interested in the bait. Maybe the reward’s too low? Why not increase it so they’ll bite? (￣～￣;) ]
Atherna suggested.