While the assembly of the YFX continued to progress, He Kui found himself at the Waste Merchant Guild after work.
As the deputy director, he enjoyed the privilege of not having to work overtime; he could just delegate the extra hours to others.
It was a refreshing experience he hadn't anticipated.
However, he knew this method couldn't be overused; otherwise, it might lead to dissatisfaction among the team.
"Congratulations, Director He!"
An elderly man greeted He Kui as he entered.
"How did you know I became deputy director?"
He Kui replied with a cheerful smile.
"We have our own channels for news. It's quite rare for someone to be promoted to A-Level, and your situation is already the talk of the town."
Is it really that exaggerated? It wasn't uncommon for someone to be promoted outside the normal procedures, especially when He Kui's assessment results had far exceeded those of others who had just reached A-Level. With everything arranged from above, his promotion was only natural.
As for being deputy director, that was a bit of an exaggeration. Most people were unaware of his contributions to the beam weapon research and simply thought he had lucked out by befriending someone influential.
"Are you here to register as our partner in cooperation?"
"Yes."
Although there were rumors that the Klein faction wanted to absorb him, he sought as much information as possible.
Moreover, with Lacus set to steal her freedom, He Kui was not particularly enthusiastic about joining her faction. If she were to ask him to engage in theft, he would have to weigh his options carefully. If he did steal, he might end up in serious trouble.
He had seen the consequences of those who had helped Lacus steal the Gundams; they likely faced dire fates.
Even Lacus's father had knelt down, and He Kui, as a mere pawn, would probably either be locked away for life or executed.
Despite being a deputy director, there were still many within the organization who could threaten him, so he could cooperate with the Klein faction but preferred not to be absorbed by them.
The unattainable always stirred restlessness. As his value and status rose, all he needed was to maintain neutrality while subtly leaning toward Lacus's faction.
"Alright, just fill in your information here. Also, we can offer you a 40% discount for the first 500 kilograms of materials every year."
A 30% discount would net him some profit, but a 40% discount was practically at cost price. He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the boss's words.
He likely said this because of He Kui's status as deputy director, but...
"No merit, no reward. Let's skip it for now."
He Kui continued smiling.
He had just been promoted and didn't want to risk being reported for any favoritism.
Normal cooperation was fine, but he preferred to assess the situation further before making any decisions.
"Alright then, what would you like today?"
"Just the usual."
With a recent promotion bonus of twenty thousand, he knew prices were still high, but stocking up on supplies was a good idea.
"Sure, if you need anything, feel free to reach out to us."
The boss's smile remained as he spoke.
"Thanks, I've filled in the information."
"Here's our internal website. I've logged in your identity information. The username and password are both set to default, so please change them upon your first login."
"Okay."
Receiving the information through his wrist device, He Kui nodded and left without lingering.
"Take care! We'll arrange for someone to deliver the goods, so don't worry."
Having officially become a member of the Waste Merchant Guild, He Kui returned home and opened the website the boss had mentioned. After changing the username and password, a forum reminiscent of a past life appeared before him.
**[Information Section]**
**[Spam Section]**
**[Bounty Section]**
The **[Spam Section]** had the most activity, clearly filled with irrelevant chatter.
Next was the **[Information Section]**, while the **[Bounty Section]** had the least traffic.
With a clear goal in mind, He Kui clicked on the Bounty Section. The first page displayed various posts, some with gray titles indicating they had been resolved, while others remained unfilled.
The most eye-catching post was one he was very familiar with.
**[Seeking Theoretical Plans for Miniaturized Cooling Components for Beam Weapons. PS: Must include detailed theoretical foundation and guarantee reproducibility of experimental results. (Reward: 1,000,000 Tech Coins) (Can be exchanged for various currencies according to exchange rates)]**
"One million."
He Kui swallowed, but quickly shook his head.
Greed could lead to downfall; for now, he needed to focus on stabilizing his position with this research.
With power came safety, and he could earn more money and gain more experience later.
As he scrolled down the page, he noticed many replies.
"Gas cooling? That's beyond my capabilities."
"Seems like a wealthy patron! Why not just go to Hailan Design Bureau? I heard their beam weapon research is progressing rapidly."
"Didn't you hear? The director was caught; how much progress can there be?"
"The new deputy director is just a placeholder, just promoted to A-Level. The beam weapon project over at Hailan Design Bureau is probably dead in the water."
As the placeholder, He Kui nodded in satisfaction.
Great, it seemed that ZAFT's secrecy was still effective. Although the last incident nearly cost him dearly, it had successfully kept the internal forum of the Waste Merchant Guild from leaking too much information. He also wondered if the ZAFT Intelligence Bureau had a hand in this.
The person offering the bounty was likely a director-level individual from Hailan Design Bureau, but he couldn't afford to leak information, as they likely just wanted to fill in the last pieces of the puzzle.
He couldn't let others get ahead of him. With a sense of urgency, He Kui exited the Bounty Section and casually browsed the Information Section. Most posts were about minor skirmishes or warnings about pirate activity, offering little useful information, but it was still far better than local newspapers.
"Hey, I'm back! Did you not cook?"
Just as He Kui closed the webpage, Shi He's voice accompanied her entrance.
"Since it's the last day before we leave, we should indulge a bit and cook something nice."
He Kui stepped out of the room as he replied.
"Great! I wonder what the situation is like on the Moon now."
"It's probably still intense since it's a strategic part of the conflict."
As long as they couldn't completely crush the Earth Alliance's base on the Moon, they needed to keep them pinned there, preventing them from threatening PLANT's homeland or the front lines on Earth.
"True enough."
While Shi He was focused on cooking, He Kui watched the beef float in the boiling water, accompanied by the mouthwatering aroma of the satay sauce and the meat, his thoughts drifted.
Speaking of which, wasn't Mu's title something like the "Eagle of Militant"? Was it earned in a crater on the Moon?
What was it again? The Militant Eagle? It seemed there wasn't such a crater on the Moon.
He thought about how Mu could easily take down Kinn units with his little zero-type aircraft. Recently, due to his promotion and the accompanying confidence, He Kui's earlier bravado was fading.
He still had a long way to go. In order to enjoy more meat, he couldn't afford to let his guard down just yet.
He didn't yet have the capital to act recklessly, so he needed to be more cautious in his actions.
Life was precious; the higher he flew in his Gundam, the more he needed to leave some momentum for a safe landing, or he might just
crash spectacularly.
"If you don't eat the meat soon, you'll grow old!"
Shi He said, placing some meat into He Kui's bowl.
"Yeah! Meat time!"
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