Silence descended on the Kane and the others as his words sank in. The outlaws all looked at him with some shock, as they finally began to realize the true level of his ambition.
He didn't just want to create a mildly successful outlaw crew, he wanted to set up an organisation. He wanted to branch out and use them as merely the basis upon which to build his enterprise. They gulped a little, and suddenly felt far less concerned about his 25%, and far more about the implications of such a future.
Profits would obviously soar, but so would the danger.
Yet, slowly, greed and desire began to show in his listener's eyes. Previously, they'd been envisioning the future of a mid-level gang, reigning as the unofficial overlords of a small patch of land.
Now, that future was being replaced by something far grander and more ambitious.
"Y— You're crazy," Aelia muttered absentmindedly, as ambition thought with pragmatism in her mind. "Y— You can't just start as a crew with no second stage Mystics and end up as a triumvirate level power! T— They have powerful Mystics, sure, but they also control a lot of the immortal's technology!"
But Kane simply smiled, as he leaned back in his chair and made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "Oh? Can't I? What if I told you I have third and fourth stage techniques as well? And don't forget, Ella here will ensure I always have the upper hand when it comes to technology."
Obviously, he couldn't be sure about that, but it was a good argument in this moment.
Once again, silence fell, as the bandits glanced between each other, and noticed the growing excitement in all of them.
Surprisingly, it was the so-far quiet Lyra who spoke up first with a shy, yet mischievous smile. "If that's true, then… will you give us those techniques?" she asked, softly.
In response, the other women suddenly looked at her strangely, while Kane chuckled.
"What?" Lyra pouted. "Can't hurt to ask, right?"
As it turned out, that was a good argument, because then all four of them turned to Kane with questioning gazes.
But, as expected, he shook his head with an amused smile. "Maybe someday, but I have to leave some incentives for later, don't I?" Then he waved to the holographic Ella, "But Ella here will show you some teasers to prove my words."
Instantly, the four bandit's eyes lit up, and they opened the holographic displays of their armbands, where they found the teasers. For the next few minutes, Ella showed them just enough to make them believe those techniques existed, but not enough to learn anything.
Then, Ella made the teasers disappear again, and the bandits whined softly.
Instantly, Aelia spoke up again, even as she tried desperately to hide the excitement and desire in her eyes, so as not to give Kane too much of an advantage. "F— Fine," she muttered. "Maybe you are worth that much."
Yet, she wasn't ready to give up entirely, because she suddenly pointed to Luna with narrowed eyes. "But why does your little la—"
Suddenly, her voice got stuck in her throat, when fear gripped her heart. Kane's eyes began to glow a threatening crimson. He cocked his head a little and growled softly, "Yes? My little what?" His voice sent a shiver through those who heard it. Only Ella and Luna were spared.
There hadn't been much evidence of it yet, but Aelia immediately realized how important Luna was to her new boss, and how terrible of an idea it was to insult her.
Despite that, she still wasn't willing to give up, only change her wording.
"I— I mean, why does Luna here deserve a full five percent?" she stammered slightly. With her capitulation, Kane relaxed again, and his aura of fear left the room. He even smiled a little, as he truly enjoyed Aelia's determination and perseverance.
Naturally, Luna was growing a little frustrated. "Master…" she growled telepathically. "This thing you were planning for tomorrow better be good, because I'm tired of being disrespected."
She didn't speak up or try to confront Aelia directly, because that would simply make her look weak due to her lower cores.
"Don't worry, everything will change after tomorrow," he reassured her confidently.
Surprisingly, the two beastlings at the table looked a little uncomfortable as their gazes panned between Luna and Aelia. "Uhm, big sister Aelia?" Anna murmured softly. "Maybe we should just leave it? She's his Valkyrie, after all…"
Naturally, that earned her quite a few points in Luna's book.
Aelia wasn't convinced, however. She was a little anxious now, due to what happened before, but she still shook her head, "That doesn't mean anything to me, nor will it to to the other humans under us. They need a reason for giving five percent to someone."
Her argument was reasonable and diplomatic. By moving the issue over to the other members of the crew, she deflected some of the beastling's unease—a fact that made Kane smile a little more.
"That's a fair point," he nodded understandingly, surprising everyone with his sudden agreement. Even Luna narrowed her eyes at him while tightening the tail around his waist, as if to warn him to tread carefully. Unfortunately, he ignored Luna's attempts to threaten him, and just kept caressing her tail instead.
"But…!" Kane suddenly continued while grinning deviously. "If you want her to prove her worth, then you have to put something on the line. You can either agree to the 25% right now, or make a bet with me. If I win, Luna's cut becomes ten percent, making the total 30, but if I lose you can forget about her cut altogether."
Anxiety rose in both Luna and Aelia, while Ella and the other bandits watched the negotiations with curiosity. "What kind of bet?" they both asked at the same time.
Seeing they were suddenly of one mind caused him to chuckle and shake his head. "That's a surprise. But I promise it's a fair bet, and before you say anything about that, I understand we don't know each other well yet, but I'm sure you realize I'd be shooting myself in the foot by trying to trick you about this."
Aelia narrowed her eyes a little suspiciously, but she had to admit he was right. If he was lying now, then he would likely never be able to fully win her trust or loyalty.
Silence descended for a moment, as Aelia thought deeply about her next words.
Meanwhile, Luna was gripping her tail even tighter while she talked to her master telepathically. "Master… are you sure about this?" she muttered anxiously, making Kane chuckle softly.
He decided to tease her a little. "You know, I wonder if you'd actually be any different if we got you the greed rune, considering how anxious you are over this."
Unsurprisingly, Luna didn't enjoy his teasing and narrowed her eyes at him again. Luna was a true capitalist, and she loved profit. Not more than she loved Kane, perhaps, but certainly enough that she was quite serious about it.
Seeing her reaction only caused Kane to chuckle more, but he also shook his head and reassured her. "Don't worry, my beloved Valkyrie. The bet truly will be fair, which means your chances of winning aren't certain, but I have faith in you. Do you have faith in yourself?"
Luna immediately forgot everything else, and pushed out her chest in pride. "Hmpf!" she snorted dismissively. "Of course I do! If you believe it's fair, then I'll win every time! As your Valkyrie, it's my job to always beat your expectations!"
"Then there's no problem," Kane smiled softly, as he took the catlings hand, and kissed the back of it. Luna blushed slightly, but also looked back at him with a loving grin.
Meanwhile, Aelia had made up her mind. She narrowed her eyes at him and snorted, "I'm not sure why you're being mysterious about this, but fine. I agree. So, what's the bet?"
Kane shrugged casually and smirked, "I'm being mysterious, because I want to keep it a surprise, nothing more than that. But we're not betting yet, it's happening tomorrow, at the same time as Luna will show her worth."
Next, he leaned forward in his chair and grinned slightly at the four women in front of them. "Now, with all of that out of the way, I think it's time we talk about the last matter I wanted to discuss with you today."
His grin widened before continuing as he anticipated their reactions. "You see, we need to start having sex."