Chapter 429 Frenemies (2)
Chapter 429 Frenemies (2)
"This thing is quite... Spacious." Ashton said as Kass showed him around the ship.
"All starships have ample space. But this has all the facilities a person would ever require, let it be business or pleasure." Kass replied.
Judging by her voice, it felt like she had a cold personality. However, whenever Ashton asked about the ship, her character immediately did a 180. Kass had no interest in anything but ships, just like he was obsessed with getting strong every waking moment.
Similarly, Ashton realised if he wanted to know more about Kass, it was best to acknowledge her interest in spaceships and go from there. Even Astaroth approved of her, which was rare, especially because he had no interest in getting to know the people around Ashton except Anna.
[She's pretty bubbly for a dark elf.]
'Is that weird?'
[Of course, it is! Dark elves are known for their hostility towards other races. Not to mention, arrogance runs in their veins like viagra in the Xyrans-]
'Woah, Woah, Woah, Woah! What?'
[We'll talk about it some other time. Let's focus on elves for now. So where was I? Right, arrogance. They are arrogant, but they have the skills and the looks to back it up.]
[Amongst the elves, they are supposedly the most attractive subspecies. But what makes them dangerous is that they know how to use their looks as weapons. Countless kingdoms perished in the pursuit of having close relationships with the nobles amongst the Dark elves.]
'Hm, interesting.'
Ashton got to know a lot about the dark elves through Astaroth. The dark elves never viewed anyone as their equals, not even their kin. This mentality slowly pushed them to form relations with 'inferior' species to ensure the survival of their kind, even if the nobles perished.
On top of all that, they were known never to put their trust in anyone's hands, let alone show motions of love and compassion. Because of these reasons, Astaroth was surprised to see Kass working with Mazton.
"Now for the part that would be most interesting for a mercenary, the stimulation chamber." Kass pointed at an empty glass chamber, "I was surprised to find the latest model had been installed in the ship. Someone might have owed you a lot to give this to you as a gift."
"You can say it was something like that," Ashton politely smiled before turning his attention to the chamber, "Why did you think I would be interested in this... Glass room?"
The look on Kass's face was comparable to an adult's when a child asked them a stupid question. But that expression soon disappeared, and she returned to her usual cold demeanour.
"In simple terms, a simulation chamber is an outrageously expensive training room. It's a privilege to own an outdated model of these money mongers, so you can understand what you see in front is nothing short of a treasure."
[Treasures and bitches, two things worth living for!]
'Yet you didn't get any.'
[...]
Kass continued, "When you enter the chamber for the first time, the AI integrated with the simulator will perform a cerebral scan. Once that's complete, you'll be able to recreate a perfect copy of any friend or foe and fight them.
"But that's not all. You can also enhance their talents to fight them when they are at their true potential. For example, you can spar with someone at rank C, upgrade them and get a feel of how they'll fight if they ever evolved into a rank B or higher rank."
"For obvious reasons, since it's a system-based calculation, there's always room for errors. But you'll be able to get the hang of how an already strong person would be like when they become even stronger."
Kass provided an extensive explanation to the point it felt like she was mansplaining things to a man. Despite all that, Ashton understood what a goldmine he had been given by Lord Testickle.
Although fighting virtual enemies wouldn't help him level up, he would get an invaluable fighting understanding that he lacks. But more importantly, he would be able to find and strike the weakness of strong enemies like Phantom without having to face him again.
[Damn! That's quite an incredible invention!]
'Your people didn't have these?'
[You think if we did, we'd have a hard time fighting against our enemies?]
'So much for being a top-tier civilisation.' Ashton smiled, 'That said, this simulation chamber is invaluable like Kass mentioned.'
Kass could see Ashton's interest towards the Simulation chamber and was about to suggest he have a go at it. But before she could, uninvited guests showed up. At least she thought they were uninvited because Ashton was supposed to be there alone.
"Wow, can you guys see the perks of being spoonfed by the Vice President?" Kern, or Square Face as Ashton called him, showed up with his group, "I would kill to have a ship half decent as this one and an exotic pilot. Just look at that!"
As soon as Kass heard Kern's view about her, she bared her fangs. She was used to being treated by men like she was something to pleasure themselves with, but that didn't mean anyone could disrespect her.
Unexpectedly, Ashton decided to show Kern his place again before she did something stupid.
"Oh, you'd have to do more than kill someone to get a beauty like this. As for girls, you'd have to reconstruct your face to get a shot at sleeping with a pig, Square Face." Ashton fired back, "Back to Business; I assume you got my proposal?"
Ashton's words wiped the smirk off Kern's face. In a momentary lapse of judgement, Kern had forgotten about the deal Ashton offered them. It was regarding the job his mercenary group wanted to take, but unfortunately, Ashton bought the right to the request.
Which meant Ashton was indirectly employing Kern and his squad to work for him. Therefore, angering him was the last thing Kern should do, at least till they accomplished their goal.
"Yes, I did," Kern replied, "We are willing to accept the contract terms. But only till the defence part of the job. The subjugation of wild beasts is not something my team has much experience with, so we'd rather not cause unnecessary problems with the group."
"It's fine by me." Ashton shrugged, "We'll leave tomorrow, so be ready, or we'll leave without you."
"...understood."
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