Chapter 8: Riding a Tiger

"Quite a battle you had with the Chimera miss Miho. I'm very impressed." Arnold commented as the video came to an end before closing the laptop.

Miho didn't say anything. Of course the video had no problems. She had Fae edit it, thereby removing some contents that would be too troublesome to explain, like how the Chimera disappeared into a beam of light that shot out of her hand. Or the materialization of clothes out of thin air.

A recorder is usually worn by taskers, mercenaries and adventurers alike. This is to make sure that the person doing the tasks actually accomplishes the task and not simply stay outside the base for a few days and claim to have done their jobs.

Miho silently passed Arnold Kristoff a note that said one word, {CREDITS}

Arnold arched an eyebrow in surprise, clearly this human-animal… no, this fox woman could talk when she accepted the task. And clearly no damage had been done to her throat in the recording so why write the notes? Though he was surprised, he didn't reveal it on his face.

"As agreed 10,000 credit points would be transferred to your name." Arnold replied as he tapped on his interface a few times before passing his wrist over Miho's, completing the transfer.

"You know... talented people like you are not easy to find. Not to mention the battle for good resources nowadays," Arnold started to try and poach her just as Fae had told her he would. Promising many rewards and benefits that would sound tantalizing to regular folks, but it was not to be, as Miho knew his true goal.

The reason why the male lead is gathering talented people under him is because the only ten big survivor bases left on the planet had long since started a secret cooperation to join resources and build a spacecraft to get off this dying planet shortly after their researchers found out about the true situation of the planet they live on. It was because of this reason why the previous government built four huge spaceships with most of the resources on the planet and fled with all the  high status  and most of the military personnel. Along with some servants and their families that would serve them. The construction was carried out in absolute secrecy after failing to find a way to stop the planet's collapse. They also took with them all their valuables and all the great minds of their time to search for greener pastures beyond the stars. Pretty stupid and incompetent, aren't they?

{Let's not waste both of our time Arnold, is Arnold okay? Or should I say Mr. Kristoff?} Miho wrote on a card.

The shock was evident on his face as he stared at the words written on the card for a while, before his face turned solemn.

"Haha… looks like the jigs up huh? So who sent you and how do you know who I am?" Arnold Kristoff questioned as he sat up straighter. His whole demeanor changed from his small fry aura and suddenly turned oppressive.

Miho stared at him unfazed and just clapped her hands together twice and a male waiter with a well shaved beard appeared.

"Hello miss, may I take your order?" The waiter asked in a professional manner.

Miho laid back into the chair before crossing one leg over the other in a very slow and sensual way. {I''d like to order a blazer and shroud please.}

The waiter's eyes widened and so did Arnold's. This was expected, 'cause no such thing as a blazer nor shroud exists on the menu. These were secret codes used by only Arnold around those he trusted. 'blazer' means exactly what it sounds like, a miniature source of fire to dispose of important documents used during a meeting. While 'shroud' means to clear out the entire café for a meeting of utmost secrecy.

The waiter looked at Arnold silently as if asking for permission. This action did not phase Miho one bit, she had already found out from the previous night that this café was a property secretly owned by Arnold Kristoff and the only other person that knew was the female lead, his wife.

Arnold grimly nodded his head and the expression in his eyes changed. His gaze sent a chill down Miho's spine. This chill was not like the one she got when perverts stared at her body on her way here, but, bone chilling cold that brought with it primal fear. It gave her a feeling as if she was about to be swallowed up. Though, she didn't flinch at all and still sat there, looking completely relaxed.

Miho knew that her current self was no match for Arnold but she still chose to do this as it was the most effective way to get his and the other big bases cooperation and attention. It also made herself harder to be underestimated.

The waiter left their table and went to the person behind the counter and whispered something into his ear. Although he was discreet, Miho's now enhanced and sensitive ears heard him clearly. "Blazer and shroud"

The man behind the counter looked over in her direction before ducking through the back door out of sight. The waiter from before went to each table and came up with several excuses to make the other customers vacate the premises.

As Miho watched the effect of her playing paper tiger, the man who previously stood behind the counter came with a small blazer and placed it on their table before bowing and walking away.

{I have to say, quite a nice influence you have set up here in Mirage city. Too bad it's all going to be wasted, isn't it?}

"How much do you know Miss Miho?" Arnold asked, finally easing his pressure. He tossed the notes Miho had written her replies into the blazer. Yes, this was its use.

{Everything, from your date of birth to the fact that your wife is currently pregnant, two weeks old.}

Arnold couldn't hold back any longer and smashed the table between them into pieces before gripping the collar of Miho and said in a blood thirsty voice.

"Lay a finger on my wife and I swear I'll find you and all those behind you, torture you all till you beg for the blissfully release of death. And then I still wouldn't let you die. I'll make sure you have children from different men that will use you as a tool and make you watch as I make their lives miserable before ending your pathetic life, so that you die knowing that your children and their children will bare the punishment of your mistakes. I PROMISE TO END YOU AND WHATEVER GROUP THAT'S BEHIND YOU. I'LL END YOUR PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE! MAKE ALL YOUR LIVES MISERABLE THAT EVEN THE DEAD WILL WAIL BECAUSE OF YOUR GRIEF!! THEN AND ONLY THEN WILL YOU BE ALLOWED TO DIE!!!"

After blurting out several blood thirsty threats, that were honestly somewhat disturbing, Arnold's anger slowly simmered down. He felt pain on his chest as the andraline rush ended. Then turned to see a clear delicate and unblemished white hand placed above his heart. From the tips of the five fingers in pristine condition, five claws extended outward and pierced into his chest, only to halt a few centimeters away from his beating heart. This was clearly a threat. One more move and his heart was pierced through before he knew it.

"My apologies, I was too impulsive." Arnold corrected his expression and let go of Miho's collar.

Miho was silent and slowly pulled her hand away from his chest. Arnold watched the surreal scene of the claws slowly retract into her fingers and regained the appearance of regular nails. He was shocked, this was clearly not in the information his private investigator sent to him about this woman. It's as if this woman just changed overnight. The usual stitches that attached the animal parts on her was nowhere to be seen. As if her ears and tail were natural. But, he knew due to his connections, that this woman was the product of a failed experiment.

Miho just stood up and went to sit at a different table, knowing fully well Arnold would have to follow.

Sure enough as soon as Miho had taken her seat Arnold went and sat opposite her.

Miho took out another notebook and began to write again.

{Relax Arnold Kristoff, if we ever intended to harm you or your wife, you'd already be dead}

"I see, so, why are you here?"

{Simple really, we're here to give you a choice, the people behind me are very magnanimous, you see.}

"And which organization might you be working for?"

Miho didn't beat around the bush and bluntly wrote.

{You are not qualified to know.}

Arnold raised an eyebrow after reading but didn't say anything. He had already made a mental estimate of the strength of this organization based on how they were able gain so much confidential information. And who knew how much more these people knew? In fact, Arnold didn't even know that his wife was pregnant. And if this little piece of information turned out to be true, the people behind Miho were really terrifying.

What Arnold didn't know was that Miho was currently just a paper tiger that was just making herself look mysterious and sound dangerous with the help from a certain soul and system.

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