Looking down, Max noticed one spot with no radiation. It was the place that kept getting struck by lightning and being cloudy all year round.
"worth a shot."
Next, Max started looking for something related to mirrors, maybe some reflective metal or such, hopefully in the lightning region.
But to Max's disappointment, there were none within that region.
However, he did find mirrors.
It's actually a mutated creature that Lucy recorded. It was a 3 feet tall earthworm with a glass-like head. It is used to reflect the sunlight which helps them hunt for flying bugs.
Looking at their location, there were in a region neighboring a deadly zone, the same one with the countless green fluorescent lakes.
…
As Max was deep in thoughts, a sudden mental message interrupted him.
'hello.'
"huh? Lucy, what's up? "
'nothing, how r u. '
"I am fine."
'good.'
Max was baffled for a moment, it seems that little Lu was feeling a bit lonely.
'how are the crows?'.
Max looked to the side at the crows playing a game similar to poker happily. For some reason, they were insistent on playing card games. Since Lucy wasn't here, they even ignored the TV.
Craw! Craw! Looking at Mok winning and collecting all the chips while the rest boiled for the next round, Max didn't know what to say.
"they're missing you."
'oh okay'.
"oy Lu, why did you switch to social awkwardness mode? If you're feeling lonely, I can come pick you up. "
' no, got job to do.'
"alright, next time we meet, I'd take you to eat wyvern eggs as a reward."
' Dragon cousins? '
"yep those guys. "
'yay'.
"alright I am going to get some sleep goodnight."
'bey.'
Max folded the map and headed to the bedroom, quickly falling asleep while the crows outside were enjoying themselves.
He couldn't understand their sudden excitement over playing cards. Perhaps something had happened within the pet space that he was unaware of, but he chose to ignore the issue as he dozed off.
...…
In the early morning, Max awoke to the raucous cawing of crows. Instead of returning to sleep, he took the crows inside the pet space and decided to leave the hotel and seek directions to dungeon brokers who were open to accepting bribes.
Fortunately, he had the good fortune of encountering a dubious guy in a dimly lit alley, most probably a drug dealer, but Max couldn't care less.
After a few minutes of navigating the city, he found himself waiting inside the office of a dungeon broker.
The office was unremarkable in appearance, except for a large screen situated in the center of the waiting room that displayed all the available dungeons.
After a 20-minute wait, it was finally Max's turn to meet with the broker.
But after sitting in front of the broker, Max's already bad mood worsened, because his passive didn't have much effect on the middle-aged man in front of him, this guy was obviously not the kind of shady individuals he's passive works on.
"This is your first time working with me. What can I do for you?" spoke the middle-aged man in a neutral tone.
Still Max kept a poker face as he responded.
"I need a few dungeon passes, but I have a small problem. "
"and that is? ".
"you see, I forgot my ID."
"hm, I see that's not a problem.
F-rank dungeons are usually free, but pay me 5k and once you bring your ID, I'd give you your money back.
As for E-rank, you have to pay 10k instead of the normal 1K. "
Max was pleasantly surprised by the cheap bribe this guy was asking for, but there were a single problem. You didn't mention dungeons above the E-rank.
"I need some higher rank dungeon."
The Middle-aged man just shook his head, meaning obvious, without ID Max won't be able to get a pass for a high rank dungeon.
Without a word, Max placed half a million credit on the desk.
Thud!
"Please check again."
The broker's eyes shook slightly, but eventually he shook his head and pushed the money back to max.
This broker was obviously a good person, most probably only accepting bribery because of desperation.
But Max didn't give a damn, as he placed another half a million on the desk.
However, the broker was adamant.
Max helplessly took the money back. If they were at Kain-city, Max would've invited this guy to a long-term vacation inside his mirror world.
"alright I'd take whatever high tech E-rank dungeons you have. "
The broker silently took two papers and fill them up.
"your name."
"Max."
The broker stamped the two papers and handed them to Max.
"two E-rank dungeons, make sure to clear them within the time limit you're given."
Looking at the paperwork, one dungeon had 3 days and the other over a week. Max didn't mind and payed 20k and left without a second word.
The broker looked at Max's back with a bitter smile, with his experience and, although Max had a poker face all the time, he could judge that he pissed the wrong person.
But he was helpless about it. The higher ups don't care about E and F-rank dungeons, but anything more is well monitored.
Plus if he had the choice he wouldn't of dealt with people that are obviously outlaws like Max.
"Sigh".…
...
Outside, Max was flying towards Lucy. He planned to clear the two dungeons quickly, but before that, he had to pick up Lucy.
Leaving her alone while he goes to a completely separate space is a recipe for bad luck and Max is unwilling to test his luck.
Within a minute of flight, Lucy appeared in front of him and jumped on him.
'miii'.
Max patted the excited Lucy.
"alright, alright. We got business to take care of. "
Little Lu just nodded before Max pulled her into the pet space.
.....
Inside the pet space before Max met Lucy, the crows were sitting in a circular table playing poker with jugs of water and fake smokes in their mouths that Max made for them, since they asked.
The mood was filled with tension, as sand crow ramla was the card dealer, and. Mok was keeping count of points.
Ramla kept stealing and cheating so he was kicked out, and mok was just too good, thus his current job.
Suddenly, when they saw Lucy in Max's vision, they flipped the table and hid everything just barely before Lucy came in.
....
Looking at this, Max was confused. The crows seem afraid of playing with Lucy for some reason.
Ignoring the matter, Max headed to the closest dungeon.
.......
Author note :
I am sorry for the past 3 days, can't help it, I didn't have the time to write at all.
Wish you all the best.