Unfortunately, Jack isn’t the only one here today; Gustav is also tagging along, so Lin Miao’s deal won’t be easy to close.
After all, in Gustav’s view, it’s putting the reputation of Mrs. Wells’s Wild Wolf Bar of several decades to endorse and advertise this exoskeleton. Normally, it’s not even acceptable to offer ten sets, let alone one.
But Jack really likes the thing, and he can’t take it out on the street, so one way or another, this exoskeleton is going to appear in the Wild Wolf Bar.
Do you know how arms companies advertise their weapons during ’peace times’?
They get famous mercenaries to take their equipment for a spin around the streets and bars, or they specifically groom street mercenaries of their own to serve as their company’s weapon endorsers.
Adam Smasher is for Huang Ban, Morgan Blackhand and Shai Yitunai are for Military Science, Old Snake William is for Peizhuo Petrochemical...
Actually, nine out of ten street-praised legends operate this way, but most people choose to ignore the company background.
So... money needs to be given.
However, Lin Miao isn’t stingy enough to think he could get Jack to wager his mom’s bar reputation for free. In the end, they struck a deal for one free exoskeleton and a monthly sponsorship fee of 5,000 Euro dollars.
"Bro, no matter what, today I have to buy you a drink." Jack gratefully hugged Gustav tightly. "This is the first business deal I’ve successfully landed in my life, 5,000 Euro a month, without risking life and limb. This is the easiest money I’ve ever made, and my mom will surely be happy that I’ve brought her business."
Though his mom ran the bar, Jack’s childhood wasn’t affluent—in fact, it was quite tight financially.
After all, not everyone can still receive a maternal allowance of 6,000 RMB each month in their early adulthood during the 00s.
Gustav smiled wryly, "I hope Mrs. Wells won’t kill you."
Out of convenience, Jack and the others didn’t bother to travel all the way back home for a drink. After all, there was one right in front of them. Why go so far away? Plus, they could see what the atmosphere of a bar inside a company would be like.
As Jack and the others expected, the company’s bar wasn’t crowded, with only seven or eight patrons plus two servers and a bartender—not even more than the Valentino gang that hadn’t come in yet.
Tony was one of the people rescued last time; he claims to be a bartender at a bar. After getting in some trouble, he ended up being kidnapped by scavengers after work. He has no criminal record and seems pretty honest.
"Let me take a look at what you have here?"
Jack, pleased, waved Nina over for the drink menu.
Nina was momentarily stunned when her name was called. Her hair stood up like radar; it was the first time she had seen so many people, and they didn’t appear to be office mercenaries, catching her off guard.
"Strange outfits, but they seem alright." Jack shook his head. In this era, maid costumes are obsolete; no one likes them except for the old-money Europeans. This place lacks the pounding DJ that gets people pumped and the exciting colored lights found in dimly-lit bars.
Everything looks pretty unremarkable.
"Huh? They actually have real meat... organic food..."
Gustav was slightly surprised. Generally, these items are set aside as a private menu for VIP customers in bars, preventing mercenaries from ordering them and causing trouble without paying.
Aren’t the people here afraid of mercenaries causing trouble?
A mercenary sitting at the bar suddenly turned around.
"It’s rare to see your people here."
He had a look of familiarity with the place, "Here’s some advice: don’t cause trouble here, or you’ll be in big trouble."
"The new mercenaries here are ridiculously fierce, and they work as a team. You know scavengers? Just because they caught one, an entire base of thirty people was wiped out, the leader died horribly."
Jack was curious, "How do you know?"
"I tagged along, just for the fun of it."
Simmons didn’t dare to mention that he was captured and almost sold by the pound in a market.
As for his lost arm, it was replaced by Gloria, feeling better and more comfortable than before, even getting rid of the occasional phantom pain.
"How does this place compare to Afterlife?"
Jack is still in the mercenary business and hasn’t been to Afterlife yet; he yearns for that legendary birthplace.
"Afterlife... the bar security there acts all high and mighty, I don’t even care to go in."
Simmons was a somewhat capable mercenary, but after taking Faraday’s assignment, he was sold to scavengers by two temporary ’companions’ when injured halfway through the task due to not buying a Trauma Team insurance.
"But this place is definitely more interesting than Afterlife," Simmons was very sure, pointing to the gate on the other side of the bar.
"Behind that is a mission hall. This firm posts all the assignments it receives there; they are finely categorized and comprehensive. Some are issued by the company itself, others they accept or are posted by others. The bonuses are clear, the information fairly detailed, and everyone taking part in the missions shares their data. I’ve never seen such a thing, but at the moment, there aren’t many missions posted. I just come here for a drink, not interested in taking on any tasks, chatting with people here."
"By the way, the prosthetics here are pretty good. If you’re interested, you can check them out."
Gustav took the cup that Nina handed him and frowned.
"They’re competing with the middlemen themselves; they’re not going to let this slide."