Maria POV
We walked through the bustling street of Mayhem City with a hoodie on, to mask our appearance. We had to be as discreet as possible, to avoid getting noticed.
Bounty hunters existed, who go after 'The Wanted' of any society, so we had to offer more attention to our appearance.
Liam was busy with the communicator on hand, I guess he is working on contacting The Broker he spoke of.
"Any issues?" I inquired, observing his stressed expression under the hoodie.
"Yeah. The communicator is outdated, and we can't get a new one, for fear of getting tracked." He replied, sounding pissed.
"You don't have to act snappy, you could have said it normally." I rebuked, keeping a steady pace so as not to appear suspicious.
The City was more like a lawless zone, so walking around with weapons and a hidden identity was not weird. But, attracting the wrong group would do more harm than good.
Triinngg
Triinngg
"Yes!" Liam exclaimed as he excitedly pressed the communicator.
"Who am I speaking to?" A voice came from the other side of the communicator the moment Liam picked it up.
I found it rude. At least he could have said 'hello'. But what am I expecting of someone located in the Mayhem's Port?
"Cargo111," Liam replied without hesitation.
"Oi. Thought you changed your mind," said the person on the other end, seeming to have lost hope in meeting Liam.
"No no no. Things were kind of hectic, so I had to stay down." Liam replied in a rushed tone. I could tell he didn't want the man to get angry, and so did I. After all, he held the key to one of the missing pieces.
"So, is the cargo still available?" Liam whispered through the communicator, sucking deep breaths of air in anticipation.
"Ha ha ha." The person on the other end laughed out loud. "I can tell how much you want it."
I felt like taking the communicator and yelling at the bastard but came to a halt at his next words. "I thought you wouldn't show up, so I made a deal with some aristocrats of the neighboring City."
"Who?!" Liam asked, stretching his hand to stop me from taking the communicator.
I felt my throat go dry. At that moment, I could feel the scorching sun concentrating on me. The whole world felt like my enemy. Why now of all times?
"Like I said, an aristocrat."
"The City name?" Liam snapped.
We had more than one neighboring city. And from Liam's question, I could deduce his train of thought.
"I don't know." The Broker replied frankly.
"What do you want?!" Liam asked.
Though we had tried to keep everything quiet, our predicament gave us away as passersby gave us strange looks.
It's not the time to break down, I told myself as I looked at Liam, hoping he could make the broker talk.
"Now you are talking." The Broker said over the communicator. "Gold. I need gold."
"We are running out of time. I'm sure whoever you sold it to is on his way out of this City." Liam snarled.
"Where are you?"
Liam did not reply to the question, instead, he turned to look at me. I knew he was seeking my permission to give out our location. I would have said 'no' if not for the situation. As a mother… I could only nod.
"Mayhem City, close to the Port."
"Ohh. I guess passing the normal routes would take time." The broker said in exasperation. "Ask for Happy Cavern. When you are there, call me."
Tun
Tun
He hung up after saying those words.
"Happy Cavern," I muttered to myself, immediately heading for the nearest vendor.
Lined up on the man's desk, were what I deemed to be cigarettes. He had a burly physique, with a rough bearded face.
"What do ya want, Missy?" He said, scanning my body. Though my face was hidden behind the hoodie, I could still feel the lust behind his gaze.
"Happy Cavern?" I said, too busy to care about the man's action.
"Hmmm. Outsiders, right?" He said, the hideous smile on his face, widening.
Feeling a hand on my waist, I turned to meet Liam's dark eyes. Despite the hoodie, I could see them so clearly.
"I hope you won't mind helping us, sir," Liam said, his words sounding more like a command than a plea.
"Oi. I…" cutting him short was Liam's pressure, bearing down his burly body. "Over there!"
The Cavern was not hidden but had buildings of similar structures with no labeling to guide strangers.
I couldn't spend a single second caring about the attention we attracted.
Entering the cavern, I was met with a huge crowd of men, specifically, drinking and dancing. Behind the bar was a lady who stood out among the crowd.
She was rather elegant for this environment, which made me sure she was the one the broker talked of.
"Maria!" Liam called out, reaching out to hold my shoulder. "You can't be careless. Let's take things slowly."
His words didn't matter at that moment. I have always been the overcautious one among us, but I couldn't keep that up in this situation.
"They won't wait for us, so call him!" I said, giving him a glare under the hoodie.
Though he tried to mask it, I could hear the sigh. But I didn't care, as long as he called the broker.
Triinngg
Triinngg
"Seems you are there?" A voice came from the other side of the communicator.
"Who are we meeting?" Liam said, not entertaining the broker side talk.
"Ha ha ha. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!" The broker said in laughter.
As always, Liam failed to judge a person through nature. If after all this stress, the broker did not possess what we truly want, then I'll surely hunt him down and give him the most gruesome death.
"We…!"
Liam was about to say something but was cut short by the broker. "I'm sure you noticed the exceptionally elegant female. She's the one."
Immediately after I received the transmission, I headed towards the lady, taking off the ring on my pinky finger.
"I'll give you everything."
The ring I took out was known as a space ring—a ring with a dimension to contain resources, specifically, lifeless resources.
Looking at the woman, I could see her smile change to a smirk, one that sent shivers down my spine.