There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 151

Chapter 151: Chapter 146. The Call of Forgotten Mark

*ahem* Reed cleared his throat to break the sudden instance of chilly atmosphere.

He wondered for a second if those two were truly in the kind of relationship that gossip column wrote, but soon chided himself that it wasn’t his business and it wasn’t the time to think about it anyway.

"Umm...s-so, since the matter with the red-zone itself could be said to be solved, all that is left is talking about the details, Sir," he pulled the attention back to the topic at hand. "We wished we could discuss which construction company we will use to build the orphanage."

"Hmm..." Zein honestly had no knowledge about this matter. "Do you have a list of candidates?"

"Yes, Sir."

They fished out a stack of papers with some company brochures and a rough estimate of how much each company would cost. "We put on the company that we considered trustworthy, but feel free to add some names if you already have a candidate, Sir."

Zein... hadn’t even thought about construction. He was too busy these days, and had no knowledge of the matter. He just thought he would let the team decide on it. But still, he took the documents they gave him and tried to peruse them.

Hmm...yes, as he thought, he was weak against numbers. As the blue eyes narrowed at the list, Bassena leaned closer, shoulder touching Zein’s and looking at the paper.

"I recommend this one," Bassena said, pointing to the one in the third row. "It’s the one Mortix usually uses."

Zein glanced at the esper; the man didn’t seem to sulk anymore, from the tone that he used and the coldness that was already dissipated from the amber orbs. Bassena caught the stare and looked away awkwardly, continuing with a meeker voice. _{frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓}

"It’s rather on the high-end, but it’s because they used high-quality materials, which...you probably want in the red-zone," Bassena straightened his body again, and shifted his gaze toward the team. "If you mentioned that it’s a project by Zein, it might get cheaper."

"They’ll lower the price?"

"They won’t lower the material’s cost, but they’ll lower the commission and service fee as much as possible."

Zein raised his brow, as well as the people from the foundation. "Why? I don’t know them."

Bassena smiled then, and his eyes narrowed a little bit. "No, but they know Radia. If he told them to give you free service, they would."

"Huh..."

"Just tell Radia about it, and he’ll make a personal call, don’t worry," Bassena shrugged. "You guys can reach out to the company after that--I bet it’ll be a lot cheaper than the estimate."

The foundation’s workers were rising their brows in awe. The company that Bassena pointed to, Parthenon, was one of the leading construction companies in the Eastern Federation. In Area 13 where they lived, it was arguably the best--which was no wonder, since their client was the Mortix Group.

"And they wouldn’t dare to slack off since their client is an executive for Trinity," Bassena ended with a smile.

What wasn’t said was that the title he mentioned--Trinity’s executive--was only Zein’s weaker one. Because obviously, he wasn’t just Trinity’s executive. He was the best guide that wasn’t affiliated with any Temple; he was a dear friend of the Mortix Group’s Chairman; he was the beloved guide of the youngest Saint-class esper.

People who crossed him should be ready to face the wrath of the Serpent Lord and endless pressure from the Mallarc’s successor--at the very least.

Zein blinked and tilted his head. Once again, he was made realized that he was actually acquainted--no, friends--with some of the most influential people in the Federation. The things he could get just from knowing these people for just a few months were mindblowing for the past him--he even had a closet full of clothes without stepping inside a clothing store even once.

Zein proceeded to single out the Parthenon’s brochure and read through it, as well as looked into the company through the commlink. "Let’s proceed with this then," he said finally, and even without looking, he could feel Bassena perked up, like a puppy wagging its tail. He turned to look at the brightened amber eyes. "Would they build it like a green-zone building?"

"They could," Bassena’s smile was wider than a minute ago. "But you won’t have much left to operate the orphanage after."

Zein chuckled. Well, that made sense. The building in the green-zone was made to prevent miasma from seeping through and corroding the building. The door and window were resilient enough to withstand an attack from medium-rank beasts, and the law required the building for non-personal use to install a barrier for emergency measures so the building could be used as a shelter.

It would need a lot of money to build a big orphanage with green-zone standards. Even with the money Zein got from selling the aetherite, he wouldn’t be able to provide maintenance and operational cost for the future.

But...a bunker...

Zein searched for something on the company website, and then tapped a picture of a simple underground bunker. "What about this?"

"Are you trying to make a shelter?" Bassena raised his brow. But looking at the firm blue eyes, he understood where the guide was coming from--a precaution for another dungeon break. "That might be possible. Using yellow-zone material for the building should be decent enough, and the rest of the funds could be concentrated on the emergency shelter."

"Can you draw me a plan?"

"I can provide something simple for a base," Bassena nodded, and the rest of the people there just watched their interaction with a strange gaze.

Weren’t these two just spouting cold air moments ago? Why were they being so cordial and forgetting everyone else suddenly?

But of course, they kept those thoughts to themselves as they continued detailing the plan.

"I’ll write to the Scarlet Moon for referral," Zein said at the end of the meeting. "Don’t forget to hire a guild or a mercenary group to guard the site. It’ll be better if the Scarlet Moon could provide some, but since they are now the landlord, they might not be able to spare resources."

"Some people fighting in that corner cafe," Reed informed them after looking outside the door. "Wow, they’re really at it...uff--to the street now."

"Is it dangerous?" the Director asked worriedly. Among the people in that room, she was probably the one who witnessed the least conflict in her life. Three former red-zone dwellers and four espers--skirmishes were not something unfamiliar.

"Nah--it’s just a fist fight, ah, and a couple of chairs. The police should be there slightly, or patroling esper, so no worr--"

Before Reed could finish, however, there was a sound of exploding and crashing things.

"Shit, they are espers!" Reed gave an immediate update. "Are they crazy?! Using offensive skills in the middle of a crowd is against the law! We should do down, Kale!"

The man turned and was about to move, but immediately paused as he saw Zein and Bassena standing in front of the window too, looking at the commotion.

There were three espers fighting in the street; all of them were about 1-star, and their skills weren’t much. But it was a crowded place on Sunday afternoon, so even when most people already running away, some pedestrians ended up becoming collateral damage.

"Bas," Zein stared coldly at the view, and spoke in an even colder tone. The reply came immediately.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Get them on their knees,"

With a smile, Bassena answered in an almost mirthful tone, "As you wish," and snapped his fingers.

The amber orbs gleamed, and the people shrieked at the sudden appearance of three dark, big snakes coiling around the three espers, rendering them immobile. The three espers yelled and cursed initially, but after realizing they couldn’t move at all, they became quiet and pale instead.

It didn’t take long until the security force came, and Bassena loosened the bind a bit so they could put handcuffs on the three espers. One of the officers, which was an esper, frowned for a bit and traced the mana toward the slightly opened window.

The man widened his eyes and almost exclaimed as he saw Bassena. But he immediately clasped his mouth shut, swiftly realizing that it might not be a good idea for the crowd to realize the Serpent Lord was nearby. Bassena smiled and released the snake bind after the police secured the three espers with ability-sealing cuffs. They hauled the skirmishers to the van, and that was the moment Zein gripped Bassena’s arm tightly.

"Bas--"

Zein didn’t need to elaborate, because Bassena saw it too. As the esper officer put the three espers inside the van, one of them caused a ruckus and in the effort to hold the man down, the esper officer raised his arm and his forearm was exposed, as well as a small tattoo.

Interlaced ten-pointed star with five intertwined circles in the middle of it.