The Undying Transmigrator

Chapter 7: The Deal

If these were purely evil villains, Mo Wen would have no interest in compromise. But they were a resident self-governance organization trying to save money to transform their children into useful members of society - it even softened his heart a little.

"Let's hear it, Broker. How do you plan to make this deal satisfy everyone?" Mo Wen sat down as if he owned the room.

Kai had long given up complaining about Mo Wen's attitude. He looked at the Broker, who smiled lightly at him: "You can't represent your gang. Have your leader connect to the projection device here, then leave. I've already sent you the interface address."

After his cybernetic eye flickered several times, Kai left with a miserable expression. Soon after, the projection of a towering cyborg materialized in the Broker's office.

Compared to others Mo Wen had seen, the Hawks Gang leader's cybernetic modifications reached absurd levels. Every visible part of his body seemed modified, likely leaving little original flesh inside - not even enough to stir-fry a dish.

"Hawks Gang. Leader." He announced his identity in a cold, mechanical voice but didn't offer a name, only staring hostilely at the middleman. "I'd prepared for what that kid might do, but didn't expect he'd actually choose to come here."

Then he turned to Mo Wen with a sneer: "Pity Kai couldn't kill you directly and retrieve our property."

Mo Wen replied casually: "I've personally experienced more deaths than you've witnessed. I always slip free from death's grasp. But even with all your modifications, crushing your brain would still end your life."

"How about a battle-damaged headless metal mannequin? Might appeal to certain collectors?"

The Broker remained wary of the gang leader despite their apparent hostility, recognizing him as hot-tempered. His algorithms predicted the leader wanted to sabotage this deal to later approach Mo Wen independently with better offers.People always struggle to understand each other. Some gang members, just because middlemen have questionable reputations, assume they're double-dealers.

He dropped a bombshell offer.

"I currently have a corporate commission worth millions in credits, including priority review for Inner Ring immigration rights and qualifications for corporate modification surgeries. With luck, you could become an official corporate employee with benefits."

The gang leader's breathing hitched. He completely abandoned his conflict with Mo Wen, fixing his gaze on the Broker: "Extremely difficult? Bizarre requirements? Suicide mission?"

The Broker shook his head: "No, it's relatively straightforward. Simply put, Dreamweaver Entertainment needs to transport materials to their lab. Life Pharmaceuticals discovered this and plans to intercept them, disrupting the experiment to prevent competition on a minor project."

"Far from corporate warfare - neither side wants to escalate by deploying corporate special forces. They're keeping it within rules by using mercenaries as proxies. Only four people needed, with self-covered death benefits."

"I'm offering this because it's a broker's job to facilitate resource and information flow, benefiting everyone."

As the gang leader pondered, Mo Wen asked curiously: "Are commissions like this common?"

The leader answered for the Broker: "Rare. Corporations seldom conflict openly. When they do, corporate agents usually handle it directly. Commissions rarely reach civilians."

Mo Wen corrected: "No, I meant - are commissions paying tens or hundreds of thousands of credits common?"

The leader studied Mo Wen anew, now questioning his true identity, but answered seriously: "Almost impossible."

"Commissions paying that much imply even greater profits for the employer. This virtually guarantees the employer's status as an Inner Ring elite. Even if not corporate, they'd have means to seek corporate help."

The Broker nodded: "Exactly. Hence my curiosity about the Hawks Gang's channels."

"So, would you trade your channels for this opportunity?"

The leader sighed: "Fine. I'll relinquish all claims to the Revival Type-4 too. But our channels may not be as useful as you imagine."

The Broker smiled: "Having them is enough. For me, this commission needs doing regardless. I won't lose, only profit more or less."

Turning to Mo Wen, he continued: "For the Revival Type-4, I'll pay market price - 120,000 credits, transferred immediately."

Mo Wen didn't accept immediately.

The Broker was clearly currying favor, but favors create tricky debts. The returns from this favor weren't enough - and he wasn't the type where death erased obligations.

120,000 credits still fell short of the Dreamweaver Type-2 he truly needed. And he might not live until the next big payday.

Mo Wen had abysmal luck - the type who'd get struck by lightning while sheltering under a tree. Even if no immediate threats existed near his spawn point, powerful enemies or disasters would inexplicably spawn to challenge him.

Days? Weeks? Months? He never knew how long before being sent back to the Revival Point. His time wasn't infinite.

Moreover, Mo Wen disliked the gang leader's phrasing.

"The Revival Type-4 was taken by me. It's in my possession - you shouldn't be 'relinquishing' anything. I'm prepared to kill you and every vengeful gang member, to utterly crush your hopes. You should be paying me to spare you from complete annihilation."

The gang leader stared at Mo Wen delivering these outrageous words in calm tones. At first he thought it was just refusing the Broker's favor, but the intensifying malice warned him this man genuinely believed he could wipe them all out.

"......" This time, he dared not retort.

Mo Wen didn't press further, instead proposing another deal: "I'll use the Revival Type-4's value to hire your gang - buying three capable fighters worth the price, and purchasing your newly acquired corporate commission rights."

"Even with the commission, you might fail and gain nothing. Perform well, and I guarantee proper reward distribution on my honor, with potential future cooperation."

The leader agreed instantly: "Deal!"

As Mo Wen said, no matter how lucrative the commission, failure rendered it meaningless. Cash for opportunity - cash was more tangible. As for honor-bound reward sharing... he'd trust Mo Wen enough to provide his best members.

The Broker wasn't surprised - if anything, he seemed pleased with the additional intelligence.

Based on his personality model of Mo Wen and these choices, he deduced Mo Wen likely had limited time in this world - hence choosing the higher-paying commission.

"Then without delay, I've sent commission details to Mr. Mo Wen and registered him as the accepting mercenary. Next, let's greet our corporate friends."