When Ethan Yang first set up these black markets, he had already made all kinds of arrangements.
That included ways to get himself out if they were ever shut down.
Manager Zhang, the owner of the Sharp Peak Black Market Duel Arena, was one example. The families of other managers from places similar to Sharp Peak Black Market all lived in properties provided by Ansei Group, while also being monitored by Crown Club. Before they became managers, they had already known what they were getting into when they signed those agreements.
Salaries that high did not come for free.
There was no such thing as a free lunch.
Whatever benefits they enjoyed, an equal price had to be paid behind the scenes.
...
Meanwhile, at Sharp Peak Black Market.
The dark underground space had already been placed under lockdown. Flashing warning lights stung the eyes, yellow caution tape marked "Warning" could be seen everywhere, and armed Mecha Girls stood guard every few meters, with patrol teams moving through the surrounding area.
In just half an hour, Falcon had turned the place into an iron barrel. Not even a fly could get out.
Inside the temporary interrogation room.
Falcon sat behind the desk with her arms crossed. Lingwind sat opposite her, head lowered, fingers twisting together, looking completely lost.
"Tell me the truth. Why weren't you home sleeping in the middle of the night? What were you doing hanging around the entrance to the black market?
"Are you a Mecha Girl who works here at Sharp Peak Black Market?"
"No, no, no! I'm not!" Lingwind hurriedly waved her hands. "I-I came here to gather information!"
"Hm?!" Falcon frowned.
Gather information? That made her even more suspicious.
She toyed with her pistol and cocked it with a click. The sound made Lingwind jump in her chair.
"Talk!"
"Yes!" Tears streaming down her face, Lingwind spilled everything Stella had told her to do like beans pouring out of a sack. "I-I'm a Mecha Girl from Stella Club. My name is Lingwind. I was manufactured on April 13, 2076. I'm 154 centimeters tall, weigh 41 kilograms, I don't know my bust size, but my cup size is A. My pilot is Zane, my boss is Boss Su, my club is Stella Club, and my favorite food is ramen. Today's, m-my mission today was to help Boss Su sound out the owner of the Sharp Peak Black Market Duel Arena, because Boss Su wants to recruit a group of Mecha Girls as logistics staff!"
Stella Club?
Falcon froze.
Wasn't that the club where her boss was staying?
This...
If the Mecha Girl in front of her was telling the truth, then Falcon had just pointed her gun at one of their own.
"Ahem." She cleared her throat awkwardly. Just as she was about to question Lingwind more carefully, someone knocked on the interrogation room door.
"Come in," Falcon said.
The door opened, and two armed Mecha Girls in police uniforms brought in more than a dozen pale, panicked Mecha Girls.
These Mecha Girls all had obvious cracks on their fingers and limbs. Clearly, they were the ones who had been working in the Duel Arena. The last one to enter was Crimson. Her head was lowered, her face hidden beneath her bangs, but she could not hide the scars that stretched from her cheeks all the way down to her neck.
Falcon set Lingwind aside for the moment and turned her gaze to the Mecha Girls, studying them closely.
The more she looked, the darker her expression became.
There was no denying that Duel Arenas and underground black markets were allowed to exist.
But only on the condition that those Duel Arenas had proper logistics and medical support.
On top of that, any Mecha Girl participating in duel combat had to meet the required damage standards.
Yet half of the Mecha Girls before her had already reached damage level three or higher.
And the Mecha Girl at the very end of the line was barely standing, her entire body covered in cracks. She had already reached damage level five.
That must be Crimson.
Falcon stared at Crimson, her eyelid twitching.
Even if Crimson had been charged with assassinating a Techmaster.
If she was supposed to be sent to the Recycling Yard, then send her to the Recycling Yard. Have her core reshaped and her memories erased. At least that would be a release. But instead, she had been tortured into this state. What did these humans think Mecha Girls were? Tools for entertainment? Toys they could kill or spare whenever they pleased?
Falcon did not like humans.
Back then, she had chosen to become a functional Mecha Girl after being discarded by her pilot. Later, after becoming an armed Mecha Girl, she had seen many disputes between Mecha Girls, humans, and pilots. Her opinion of humans had basically dropped to zero.
Now, seeing Crimson like this, it felt as if a fire were pressing against her chest.
She stood and walked up to Crimson. "What's your name?"
Crimson raised her eyes. She did not understand why these armed Mecha Girls had suddenly come here.
But there was one thing she was very sure of. If her identity was exposed, she would most likely be sent to the Recycling Yard.
"My name is Blaze," she said quietly, lowering her eyes.
Falcon knew about Crimson, so it was no surprise that Crimson did not give her real name.
That did not matter. Falcon's mission today was to pretend she knew nothing, raid the place on the grounds that the black market had broken the law, and send these Mecha Girls, especially Crimson, to the location Absolute Shadow had arranged in advance so they could rest and recover.
"Blaze, and the rest of you." Falcon looked at the other Mecha Girls and said solemnly, "The underground black market where you worked is suspected of illegal operations. Under the laws of Mecha Island and the Human Federation, Special Squadron 17 will be sealing this place off. In a moment, I will have Mecha Girls escort you to a temporary shelter. Please do not panic and cooperate with us."
The Mecha Girls looked at one another, unsure whether they should feel happy or afraid.
They had spent too long in this sunless place, and their access to phones, computers, and other tools had been restricted.
They had almost no contact with information from the outside world and had gradually fallen out of step with normal society.
Crimson's awareness had not yet faded. It was true that her damage was the most severe, but that was because her workload was heavier.
Among the Mecha Girls who worked with her, the one who had been there the longest had been fighting at the Sharp Peak Black Market Duel Arena for four years.
Their debts could never be paid off. Money was deducted from them for food, clothes, and daily necessities.
Nutrient solutions cost several times, even more than ten times, what they did outside. Treatment fees were even more outrageous.
After four years of work, they had not saved enough money. Instead, their debts had only grown.
If they wanted to win more duels, they had to earn money to buy stronger illegal modifications, which meant owing even more money and interest. Like a snowball rolling downhill, it had locked them firmly in place. As time passed, these Mecha Girls gradually became numb and lost all hope for life.
Every day, they lived in a daze like empty shells without souls. After a duel, all they wanted was to collapse in a room barely two or three square meters in size and think about nothing. They had no time at all to consider whether they should escape.
They had long since forgotten that their original goal was to pay off the debt in their contracts. Maybe one day, they could still find a pilot and get a Module suited to them. Maybe then, they might even realize their dream of entering a proper racing circuit.
Falcon brought these Mecha Girls to the area beside the temporary interrogation room, where healing-type Mecha Girls had already deployed.
Although the medical conditions here could not compare to a medical station, they could at least help ease the pain in these Mecha Girls' bodies.
"Recover here for now. A special vehicle will come to pick you up in ten minutes."
After saying that, Falcon had one of her Mecha Girls close the interrogation room door.
The room fell quiet.
The charcoal fire burning in the fireplace cast a warm glow over the girls' faces.
Someone finally came back to herself, covered her face, and tears slipped down her cheeks.
Maybe there really was a chance for this dark, hopeless life to end.
But they remained silent, still not daring to believe it, afraid that if they blinked, they would discover it was all just an illusion.
And then...
Before ten minutes had passed.
Hurried footsteps sounded outside the interrogation room.
Creak!
The door opened.
Ethan Yang walked in with a cold expression, holding a Techmaster medal.
"Which department are you from? How dare you seal off my underground black market?
"And you even want to take away my Mecha Girls?
"I'd like to see where you got the nerve!"
...
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