"Your hideout?" asked Leo.

"Yeah, you didn't honestly expect me to live in that shitty cabin, did you?"

"Honestly with you you never know, I wouldn't be surprised if you would live in that shitty cabin at this point."

Valentina sighed.

"I could've expected that answer, anyway my hideout is a four-hour drive from here, we will only have one stop. Once we arrive you can rest. But for now you must stay on guard."

Leo sighed in displeasure.

He already was quite tired and honestly didn't feel like going through another four-hour drive.

"What does your hideout look like? Please tell me it is not some shitty cave you sleep in like a cavewoman," said Leo.

Valentina sighed.

"You really do have low standards of me, don't you? Have you ever been to Noah's mansion?"

"Yeah, I have."

"It is comparable to that, but a lot smaller. Pretty much a compact little mansion, don't expect any servants though."

A slight smile appeared on Leo's face as he realized that he would at least be sleeping at a decent place.

"One of my silver brooch employees will also be there, you will get to meet her as well then."

Leo nodded.

Silence fell in the car until Leo brought up a topic of interest.

"Valentina, have you ever heard of a group of interest known as the hunter's black lodge?"

"Hmm, I have. Aren't they a crime syndicate in Russia that is anomalous? I've heard some rumors about them but not anything solid, Noah used to be in business with them until they tried ripping Noah and stealing his wares. Noah managed to get away but the black lodge was after his head. In the end Noah retaliated and fought them off for as long as possible until he could find some information which he could blackmail them with. After that they made sure not to mess with each other anymore, but Noah still has to watch out. They're nasty folk. Back when the insurgency was really vulnerable we considered allying with them but in the end we held off, pretty sure it was for the best."

"Also Valentina if you don't mind me asking, who do you think is more powerful; MC&D or the insurgency?"

Valentina was once again in thought.

"When it comes to raw power, the insurgency would absolutely crush MC&D, but if we are talking about a full on war between factions we would definitely lose."

"Because of finance?"

"Yes, but not only that. Finance we might be able to compete in although it would be a struggle, however the biggest factor is political power. MC&D has a lot of powerful people in a lot of countries, mostly politicians, but even some warlords in Africa and such. They would probably expose us and the various questionable acts we have done to other factions and force politicians to make a move against us, in the end crippling us. Taking them on is definitely not a viable option but luckily we are allied with them."

Valentina continued.

"Me keeping you by my side is actually a massive, massive risk but I am quite petty, and this is my revenge toward Iris, I'm not only keeping you around for revenge though since as I mentioned before you are quite useful to me. Once you are able to start a group of interest I will have your support and you will have mine, that is why I am glad to have you on my side, Leo."

Leo got surprised by the sudden compliment but kept a stoic expression.

"Yeah, same goes for me. Although I have some good memories at MC&D it generally wasn't a fun experience, especially not on how they found me. In the end I am glad that I ended up here, besides without your help I would still be in foundation containment and with some bad luck they would've transported me to some other remote location that would practically be unreachable."

Valentina laughed.

"Didn't know you could say anything positive, I'm not used to this side of you."

Leo scoffed.

"Well I can go right back, how about you take on some more responsibilities for your actions? That way I can show you this side of mine more."