The unkempt man drank his booze greedily, a trace of it leaking from the side of his mouth. Sounds of him gulping annoyed me, but I held myself back as there seemed to be something more behind his façade.

Emptied up the booze, the unkempt man wiped his mouth before saying, “I’m advising you this, if you don’t want a calamity to face you, better avoid… No, just follow me!”

Irritated and confused by what this drunkard said, I replied with a smirk, “I think you’d better go back; your family must have been searching for you.”

“My family? Hahahaha… You don’t know what happened to my family, bub. I’m only advising you because you seem interesting and look like a greenhorn.”

Greenhorn, seriously? Did I really that easy to bully?

“Stop calling me bub! My name’s Victor!”

Although I was a bit pissed, the unkempt man ignored and forcefully led me to a secluded area. He then transmitted his voice to my helmet with an advanced holo-device, “Here should be safe from those jerks.”

Jerks? It seems that there's more of him than what meets the eyes.

“Then, suggest me the best and most trusted store in this station.”

"As I thought, you're inexperienced. There's not a single store in this world that could be fully trusted. However, I’ve indeed one recommendation which provided the most trusted service.” With that said, the unkempt man took out a VIP card and gave it to me.

VIP card? The last time I got that, bad luck awaited me.

“This is a VIP card of Astra Mechanic Store… This isn’t just a normal VIP card but a special one. Show this to the manager and you’ll be treated fairly without any string attached.”

Suspicious for his intention, I squinted my eyes and questioned, “Why are you helping me? I suppose this is the first time we meet.”

“Hmm? Did you think that I’m helping you? Don’t get ahead of yourself! A nobody… I mean… if it wasn’t for the Super… Anyway, I want you to give this to the manager of the store.” The unkempt man gave out a small mysterious box from his dimensional storage to me.

“Are you not scared that I’ll take this away without delivering it? And… Who are you, really?” For him not to deliver this himself, he must have been a criminal or something, but if he is, it feels fishy.

“Fool! The moment you come out of the station with that, the whole government will chase you down! I’m not threatening you or anything. Besides, if I could deliver this myself, why would I ask you for help? As for who I am, I can’t let you know.”

“Okay okay… I'll deliver this for you." This is kind of a drag but I can feel that what he said is legit. Nevertheless, I should be cautious just in case.

“Good. Consider the VIP card my payment.” The man gave out a relieved sigh before backing away and went away.

I wonder what’s inside this box. Will the Astra Mechanic Store even accept this? And if they did accept it, what will they treat me as? Anyway, I can only know if I come there. But first, where the Astra Mechanic Store located?

[Master~! By calculating his personality and way of talking, I can assume that the minor-PTSD man from before is someone influential.] ATHENA’s cheerful voice and emoticon suddenly emerged on my HUD.

“What do you mean by that?”

[There is a 70% chance that he is Professor Landon Steward in disguise. He was using an advanced camouflage badge that was able to fool simple scanner.]

Ah… no wonder it feels a little bit obscure when I saw his face through my helmet’s scanner before. As expected of an enhanced A.I., deducting his identity easily. After some consideration, I ordered ATHENA to show the way to the Astra Mechanic Store.

Before long, a big store not inferior to the Black Star Store entered my field of view. To my surprise, several Mobile Robot Suits were being showcased in front. Some pilots were in the middle of using them and moving the Suit with expertise. Yet the store wasn't scared that someone would steal it, as there were dozens of robots guarding the place. Err… I guess they live up to their company’s name. Having lots of robots and Mobile Robot Suit being showcased.

"Let's see what's available in the store." I chuckled, heading to the entrance.

Without further ado, I entered the store and went straight to the receptionist without sightseeing much. The interior didn't look much different from lots of stores I went previously except there were many more robots and advanced mechanic devices around. Unsurprisingly, the receptionist was an android — robot in human skin — and it took me a few moments before I realized it.

[Is there something that I can help, sir?] The android said with a gentleman voice.

After looking around and ascertaining that it was safe, I took out the VIP card given by the unkempt man and show it to the android. Within a second, the android’s expressionless face evolved to be a little bit surprised.

[My apologies, sir. Let me call the manager first.]

Hmm? So, there’s indeed no string attached, huh?

Soon, a plump middle-aged man with a receptive look approached me from the side. Not bothering to chit-chat, I inquired, "You must be the manager here, right?"

“Eha-haha… yes, I suppose. Esteemed sir can call me that.” The plump manager smiled wryly, wiping his sweat with a handkerchief. Guess, this VIP card is beyond normal.

“Err…” I was trying to give him code by looking around the places and it took him a whole five seconds until he realized what it meant.

"My apologies, esteemed sir. Let me lead you to the VIP room." Still wiping his sweat — with his handkerchief, the plump man led the way. Isn’t this man a bit too awkward or is it just my feeling?

Shortly, we reached a huge luxury room. I sat down on the sofa and eyed him. The plump manager was still awkward as ever and sweat trickled down his forehead. Is this guy really the manager? It’s completely different than that bastard, Lester.

“Please understand for my late introduction. I am the branch head of the S.S.S. Astra Mechanic Stores’ branch, Colton Astra.”

“Ahaha… sir manager is good at joking around.” I laughed, despite touching my dimensional storage for any suspicious movement.

“Please… don’t tease me like that, I suppose.” The self-proclaimed branch head smiled and wiped his forehead.

Seriously? This awkward man is the branch head? I mean, it means that he holds the head managerial position for a dozen or so of these stores in this station. From his name though, he doesn’t seem to be lying, hmm... appearance can fool.

“Ahem. Let’s just get straight to the point.” I said while taking out a holo-list, “Could you provide me with everything on this list?” I need to be a little bit more vigilant since the last incident but the VIP card has shown it's worth.

Branch Head Colton looked through the list then exclaimed, “Yes, yes, absolutely! It won’t be a problem at all. Since esteemed sir here is the holder of the highest VIP card, I’ll have all of them prepared right now.”

What? I remember filling this list more than what I need but to think that he can provide it in no time. The Spring and Autumn Company really can't be mentioned in the same breath.

“That’s not all, I want to discuss more on the purchasing of something.”

“Hmm…? Please pray tell, esteemed sir,” said Branch Head Colton while again wiping his sweat with a handkerchief.

“Recently, I take a liking to the Mobile Robot Suit. First, can you show me a list of what’s available in the store?”

“Haha… Esteemed sir come to the right place for it.” With a snap of his fingers, a 3D holo-image displaying various kinds of Mobile Robot Suit emerged from the table between us.

Looking through the list, I was amazed by the model and type presented in there. However, when I stared at the price tag of a random Mobile Robot Suit, I couldn't help but be flabbergasted. Naturally, I kept professional posture, but my twitching brows couldn't be stopped. 15 million credits? That's for the one with an above-average spec? Are they trying to rip me off?

Continuing to browse through the list, I realized that the cheapest one already cost a fortune. The mass-produced Mobile Robot Suit alone was worth 1 million credits, whereas the exclusive one, even if I emptied my bank account three times over, it wouldn’t be enough. Sigh… This will cost me an arm and a leg…

Considering that I’ll use 10 million credits for the miscellaneous items and 40 million credits for ‘that,’ means that it leaves me with 50 million credits. Now then, I don’t care much about the one that can enter FTL travel, but the one with the highest mobility and ground warfare.

It’s not like the technology to make one isn’t available in the Technology Cube, though. But what’s available there is mostly a bit outdated and will take me sometime before I'd be able to produce them. Guess, I don’t have any choice but to ask him in person.

“Sir Colton, could you suggest to me the deadliest killing machine of them all?”

“Yes?”