"Um, is it a bit too sweet?" Tasting the strawberries in the canned goods, Scarecrow frowned, finding the taste overly sweet.
"Hmm, noted. Here, try this one next." CF05 took out her tablet, recording Scarecrow's feedback on sweetness, then pushed another can in front of her.
Next to her, NZ75 had seven or eight open cans in front of her, all prototypes they had been working on for the past few days.
Hearing CF05's words, Scarecrow's expression turned bitter.
After all, she had never overindulged in food before, but now, after switching to a new body, she was feeling uncomfortably full for the first time.
Moreover, most of what she had eaten contained moisture, and she could feel the water sloshing around in her digestion module.
Scarecrow regretted it now. She had thought that coming to help would simply involve some manual labor, similar to what the Rippers did. She hadn't expected to be roped in by these two heartless dolls as a taste tester!
They should go find that glutton SPAS-12 for this kind of thing!
"Still want to eat? SP..." Feeling queasy, Scarecrow subconsciously wanted to mention SPAS-12, Miss bottomless pit when it came to food, but before she could finish her sentence, CF05 waved her hand.
"Ah, she's no good for this. Once she starts eating, she won't bother with careful taste evaluation. And now, she seems to have gone outside to catch octopuses. She said she wants to eat takoyaki tonight."
Hearing CF05's words, Scarecrow looked at the cans in front of her with a headache, and her hands trembled as she picked up a fork.
Eat, what else could she say?
She had committed to this, and even if it meant bursting her digestion module, she had to finish it.
But just as Scarecrow was preparing to grit her teeth and continue eating, the broadcast system in the ship which had almost never been used suddenly sounded.
"All personnel return to the cabin, assemble in the mess hall, we will depart in ten minutes."
Renault's voice echoed through the broadcast system.
His brief statement causing all the T-Dolls to pause, but the next moment, they all sprang into action.
M1 Garand also relayed the message to all the T-Dolls through the communication protocol.
Those outside fishing for octopuses, walking 'dogs' on the deck, loafing in the dorms, or doing simulated training in the training room, all the T-Dolls put down what they were doing, tidied up a bit, and rushed to the mess hall of the ship.
A group of T-Dolls crowded into the mess hall.
Fortunately, the space was not small, otherwise so many T-Dolls might not have fit.
By now, Renault had changed into his coat and walked in, scanning the assembled T-Dolls. After confirming that no one had been left behind, he spoke directly, "Go back and prepare your equipment. We've got a job to do here. M1 Garand will send you the specific information shortly. Move out."
Got a job? That means... we have a commission! A new job!
Just as Scarecrow was wondering whether to continue eating, she instantly perked up at this news!
She dropped her fork and dashed out in a flash.
CF05 and NZ75 shrugged and closed the cans they had been working on, then headed back to their dormitory.
Seeing the T-Dolls spring into action, Renault also put on his coat and went to the bridge, starting the ship's engines in preparation for takeoff.
"Commander, preparations complete."
"Mm." Hearing M1 Garand's report, Renault nodded and directly controlled the ship to ascend, turning towards the east and flying off.
...
"Griffin's support will arrive soon, there's no need to issue orders to other security contractors."
Watching as Helian quickly negotiated the price with Renault in just a few words, Kryuger spoke with a headache.
This was completely unnecessary expenditure.
Renault was still near the Aegean Sea. By the time he arrived, the battle here would probably be over, right?
"Renault said it's no problem. They should arrive in about half an hour." Hearing this, Helian felt a little embarrassed, but she still believed that Renault would arrive in time, despite Kryuger's doubts.
"Half an hour!? The distance from the Aegean Sea to here is at least over a thousand kilometers. How could he possibly arrive in half an hour!? Do you think he's coming over in a blackbird plane? Or sitting on a cruise missile?"
Upon hearing Helian's mentioned timeframe, Kryuger's first impression was that it was unreliable. Although he had initially thought that as a new security contractor, Renault did have some skills, but it was a bit far-fetched to expect him to arrive in such a short time.
"If he can arrive on time, the commission fee still needs to be paid..." Helian replied somewhat awkwardly.
She was implying that if Renault didn't arrive on time, the fee wouldn't need to be paid...
And if he didn't arrive on time, they might all be dead by then. Who would Renault ask for money then?
"You... I'm telling you... This guy, could it be that you've taken a liking to Renault? No wonder you haven't been participating much in Griffin's internal social events recently."
Kryuger sighed with a headache, but now obviously wasn't the time to discuss Helian's love problems.
The Griffin commanders at the base were still leading the T-Dolls in a fierce battle against the Sangvis's units. He didn't have time to worry about Helian's dilemmas.
Fortunately, this branch had a relatively large space, and they had enough room to delay the Sangvis's actions until the support from other Griffin squads arrived.
But just thinking about the commission fee Helian had promised Renault, Kryuger couldn't help but twitch his mouth.
Do you really need to offer such a high price? Is it appropriate to be so straightforward in front of your boss?
A commission fee of fifty million for one support mission, enough to buy dozens of squads of tactical dolls!
And that's including the cost of equipment and ammunition for the tactical dolls!
Do we really need to be this wasteful? Is Griffin's money just blowing in with the wind!?
While Kryuger was suffering from a headache, Gentiane was also suffering from a headache, but hers was literal.
She had just been hit on the head by something she didn't know, and now her head was throbbing.
"Commander Gentiane, please don't move around. Let me help you bandage the wound on your head." G36 from Gentiane's team held a bandage, pressing down Gentiane's restless head.
Hiss!
As G36 cleaned the wound, Gentiane couldn't help but inhale sharply. The pain from the wound that had just been hit wasn't noticeable at first, but now it was starting to hurt again.
"What's the situation at the base now?"
"The other commanders have already set out to command the tactical doll squads in the base to resist the Sangvis's autonomous units. The situation is temporarily at a stalemate, but it's not looking good. The upper buildings of the base are severely damaged."