"Who are you again? What's your name?" Renault held his coat riddled with holes from burns, hesitating whether to throw it away or try to patch it up.
Seeing the woman at the door, he tilted his head, but unfortunately couldn't recall her name.
She looked familiar, though. They must have met somewhere before.
"Alina, Statesec liaison officer. We've met before, with Nicholas." Alina, watching Renault approach in shorts and flip-flops, felt a vein throbbing on her forehead. She didn't know why, but every time she saw this guy's face, she had an impulse to pull out her gun and shoot him in the head.
Thanks to him, she and Nicholas had to crawl out of that chimney full of black ash!
And yet, he didn't even care about them! He just turned around and forgot about them!
Although, to be fair, he never asked for her name...
"Oh? Statesec? What's up? Has that guy Nicholas returned? Are you here to deliver money?" Renault glanced at the three men behind Alina, two of whom were carrying a metal box together.
Obviously, it wasn't because the box was important; it was just probably heavy.
"The Statesec doesn't have that much cash at the moment, so it's not money inside." Alina frowned and waved to the men behind her.
The two men carrying the box directly placed it on the ground and opened it in front of Renault.
"Oh? Is this necessary? It's troublesome to deal with these things. Isn't it better to transfer money like before?" Renault frowned as he saw at least three ten-kilogram gold bricks in the box.
These labeled items didn't hold much value for him. Selling them would require finding someone to melt them down. Otherwise, Statesec would come knocking again.
After witnessing the clash between Nicholas and Anthony, personnels from different departments of Statesec, Renault doubted the efficiency of Statesec's work. He feared that as soon as he acted, other departments of Statesec would come looking for trouble.
Upon hearing Renault's casual remarks, Alina raised the corner of her mouth. Transfer money? Who among them had that much money in their pockets?
Moreover, this mission's funds were not their personal expense but directly allocated from one of Statesec's account.
Direct transfer? What if it leaked out? The headline might become "Statesec Unable to Act, Relies on Security Contractors!" That would be ridiculous!
"Anyway, the goods are delivered. Goodbye!"
Hearing Renault's complaint, Alina snorted coldly and turned to leave!
Damn it! Why did she rush to deliver the money to satisfy this guy, so he wouldn't cause trouble in the city!?
But now he's complaining! Hmph! I hope this guy gets run over by a military vehicle soon!
As Alina walked away, cursing Renault in her heart, she had only taken two steps before Renault called out to her.
"Wait! Don't rush off. I forgot to give something to that guy Nicholas. Since you're here, just take it to him." As Renault spoke, he picked up a dirty plastic bag from a pile of clutter.
Turning to see this bag, Alina immediately frowned and glanced at the greenish bag. Although she didn't like cleaning up at the liaison office, it didn't mean she liked having dirty things.
"What's this?" She hesitated, extending her hand. Alina didn't want to take it, even though she was wearing gloves...
"Some local specialties from the Red Zone that I forgot earlier. Take it now. Just don't drop it."
"Specialties?"
Taking the bag from Renault, Alina suspiciously opened it and peeked inside...
Suddenly, cold sweat broke out on Alina's forehead!
Her legs instinctively weakened, but fortunately, her colleague behind her reached out to support her. Otherwise, she would have fallen to the ground.
The Statesec personnel who helped out also looked into the bag curiously, wondering what could scare Alina like this?
But just one glance, and they all felt the world starting to blur!
Collapse fluid!? Why is it this thing!?
Three green bottles of collapse fluid, at this moment, were like beverages Renault casually bought from a vending machine on the street, packed in a plastic bag. The faint green light seemed to stare at them like the eyes of death.
"This!? This thing..." Alina's voice trembled.
This dangerous item was brought back from the Red Zone by Renault just like this!?
"Don't worry, it's not radioactive. It's been handled, and the bottles aren't cracked. As long as you don't treat them like grenades and throw them out, they won't explode under normal circumstances. Isn't the psychological quality of Statesec agents a bit too low?"
Too? Too low?
Is this a question of low psychological quality!? The key is that this thing has no protective measures on the outside!? It's just packed in a plastic bag! Anyone would be scared!
Before she could retort, Renault waved his hand and returned to the factory, leaving Alina and the three Statesec agents holding the plastic bag, sweating profusely, debating whether to take it back or immediately request support to bring in a full set of containment equipment.
Meanwhile, inside the factory, Angelia had just finished sterilizing. She borrowed a towel from BM59 to wipe her head and looked at the box in Renault's hand with some curiosity. "Did someone from the Statesec just come over?"
"Oh, yeah, they came, brought money. Look at their efficiency. They sent money right after finishing the commission. What about your money? When will it arrive?" Renault opened the box, letting Angelia see the three shiny objects inside.
"This!? How much money did you ask from the Statesec!?"
Three gold bricks! This must amount to... it's immeasurable!
There must be many zeros after it! When did Statesec become so generous!?
"I don't know about that. Anyway, when I asked for it, that guy Nicholas didn't mention this much. It's probably just hush money. So, how about it? I don't expect you to give me this much. One third will do."
One... one third!?
"Even if it's one third, I can't come up with it! I've never seen this much money in my life!" Thinking about her salary at Griffin and the bonuses after successful missions, Angelia immediately put on a pained expression.
"Well, then there's nothing I can do. I'll just ask Helianthus for money. Anyway, you're the commander of G&K, whether the account is under Griffin's name or not doesn't make much difference."