Planet of Sand and Oasis of Iron

Chapter 60 60. This is a consensual relationship, so it's not a deal, okay?
The 'Dust' mercenaries they were looking for were quite enthusiastic during the communication, and their attitude became very good after they heard that Cypher was looking for them to share blueprint technology.

In particular, after listening to his description of the outline of the blueprint, I became even more interested in the communication.

They said they were in deployment mode, sent a coordinate and ended the communication - fortunately, they were still within the range of the edge node city.

If you want to chat, there are plenty of people in the channel, but Seifer usually just listens and is too lazy to join the conversation.

Leaving behind long, dark blue ruts that would not dissipate for at least an hour, this 'small car' that was given to someone slowly drove into a patch of peeling, weathered, and seemingly crumbling rocks.

Then Seifer sighed, because the scene in front of him showed a mobile base painted in red, white and blue, with lights flashing unscrupulously, which was too dazzling.

This stronghold has been modified so that its outer armor plates are opened like an umbrella, completely exposing its internal structure.

It strengthens internal and external communication to the greatest extent, and to a certain extent can also block artillery fired from the sky, but this is only a means.

Further away, they also installed alarm devices and watchtowers, looking like both businessmen and well-trained tactical teams.

Cypher's vehicle was spotted and marked early on, and a four-rotor drone guided him to the right position so as not to block the attack route.

As for what was attacking... Cypher saw the combat machines being prepared in the expanded hangar from afar, and could only sigh that businessmen were rich.

It has everything from guns and special operations units, and even its mobile base is twice the size of his car. It's not wrong to call it a ground monster, right?
"Red Crossbow? You're young and promising! You have such a low mercenary rating, yet you already have a combat base."

The other party was also surprised. After all, when they contacted him, they checked Sefer's mercenary identity and found out that he was just a second-level mercenary. They thought he was a lucky newcomer.

Who would have thought that a newcomer would open a base that was obviously unusual?

"You're a little luckier... Aren't you worried about being attacked by someone just parking your car in the desert?"

Anyway, let’s start with the mercenaries’ daily greetings.

Dust smiled and said that even if they were worried, they couldn't stop doing business, so they asked Seifer to bring the blueprints to the trading platform at their base.

When he heard that Cypher also had a machine, his enthusiasm suddenly came out - he even asked enthusiastically if he wanted to tune up this equipment.

Died of laughter, no money.

Sefer politely declined, stepped on the still warm (unfeeling) sand, and walked over with the blueprint on his back. He saw that there were quite a few mercenaries here!

Most people came to trade with money and some equipment. They sat in front of the window, in the warm sand, wearing protective clothing but taking off their helmets, chatting happily.

While waiting for their number to be called, 'Dust' even provided them with free ice water, showing excellent service attitude.

As Cypher approached, a mercenary dressed like a technician waved to him: "Hello, hello, Red Crossbow... uh, where's the blueprint?"

"You don't have to look at the pictures right now, do you?"

The other party scratched his head and said embarrassedly, "It's a habit, a habit. I usually help people adjust their weapons too much... Come this way, our open-air workshop is here."

Leading Cypher to the back, at a similarly open window with a long string of neon lights hanging above the armored plate, the researcher called out, "Blueprints are here!"

……ah?

"You're so noisy, you bastard! If I had known, I wouldn't have picked you up on the way back... Oh, customer, Red Crossbow? Not bad, not bad, that's a really good mercenary code name."

The person inside was complaining about his teammates in the first half of the sentence, and then immediately put on a smiling face in the second half.

The girl's appearance is impeccable, with medium-length hair that is a bit rare, a bit like that of the touring idol but greener, golden eyes and a smiling expression.

But for some reason, facing her brings on a cold sweat, hand tremors, and a phantom heartache. It's like gambling all your card draws to guarantee a gold, or the palpitations of losing your +13 protection coupons.

So Seifer paused and asked hesitantly, "Excuse me, who are you?"

"Don't mind my name. I'm just an ordinary craftsman in the Dust Squad. Let's not talk about those... Where are the blueprints! Where are my blueprints!"

As soon as she mentioned the blueprints, her emotions immediately became unstable, and she even practically banged her head on the table, demanding something.

Even with gloves on, wouldn't it hurt to hit the metal plate like this? Seifer didn't give him the blueprints, but asked cautiously, "The blueprints aren't the priority. I want to ask about the price..."

"The price? You didn't tell her?"

As soon as the topic of the blueprints left her, the girl asked the researcher with a lack of interest. The researcher threw up his hands helplessly, "You didn't tell me, but you were so anxious for me to bring it over as soon as you heard the description?"

"...That's what happened. Okay, you can go now. I'll explain it to her in detail."

The researcher turned and left. The girl then pointed to the folding chair in front of the window and said, "Sit down first, then take out the blueprint and show it to me."

"Don't worry about the blueprint being stolen. Just looking at the shape of this thing is meaningless. The detailed data and content are what make it possible to produce it."

She frowned and tried to describe it, but Cypher continued, "It's like going to a restaurant and not being able to confuse the picture with the actual food served?"

"...It's a little subtle, but that's it."

That's all right. Sefer took out the blueprint and shook it open. The three-view drawing on the neat grid made the green-haired girl squint her eyes.

Frowning tightly, she studied it carefully for a while, then picked up a book and flipped through it. "Strange... It seems to be from this series. It seems that Abian Company has something similar..."

"Not really. This design is too mature. The company has never solved the strength problem of this type of mechanism... Hmm..."

Just as he was going deep into the analysis and was even preparing to take out professional observation tools to take samples, Seifer put away the drawings, folded them neatly and held them in his hands.

The green-haired girl was like a high school student who was in the middle of giving a reward at home when she was forced to interrupt when she heard the door open. She immediately restrained her expression and looked to the side guiltily.

"I, I'm not stealing. Regarding research, I can only say that the surface is superficial. The real thing doesn't match the picture..."

This desert is full of weirdos, so one more wouldn't make a difference. So, Seifer remained calm and simply grasped the blueprint. "Now that you've experienced the product, I want to ask you a follow-up question: how much do you plan to pay for this blueprint?"

"Ah? Aren't you going to make it?"

The two looked at each other for a moment. The girl scratched her head in pain, making a humming sound and struggling for a long time. She lowered her head to check something and finally stood on the chair.

"Well, I'll give you a copy of the blueprint information, and then I'll pay for the finished product myself... We can also set up a communication channel. If you need blueprints, designs, or any device you're confused about, just come to me..."

A lot of words came out in a flash, and the girl stretched out her hands, almost begging Seifer to give her the blueprint. The image was so vivid that it was out of tune with the other people in the car, even the mercenaries.

The conditions are excellent, and you can get the finished product and design parameters for free, which means you can even build and maintain it yourself in the future...

Seifer thought for a moment and placed the blueprint on the table. "How did you manage to stay in the mercenary business for so long when you can't resist the temptation to spend money?"

"Because my brother is the captain of this old guy's car."

That's fine.

(End of this chapter)