"Shall we go, gentlemen?"

 

The men gave a reluctant nod; They would rather have him guide them than that psycho nutcracker. What young lady would kick a man in the nuts using so much force? It was quite merciless, and although Max didn't put too much thought into it, everyone seemed to forget she was stacked.

 

If Max paid some careful attention, he would've noticed that her muscles, If pushed hard enough against, would feel harder yet still as flexible as those of Alice, although hers lay a lot deeper, So unlike Alice, who had clear signs of some muscle although not to a point it hindered her beauty. Hannah had none of them visible to the naked eye. She had the same soft skin younger girls had, and although she was a little less developed than his sister, she was still beautiful. It was clear that she never once skipped on her nutritional supply. After all, As a sex slave, it was in everyone's best interest that she be kept as pretty as possible.

 

Whatever she had in that body of hers was superior to Alices C-type genetic injection and most likely was added into her body in vault 138, where she was created. Which, Considering the fact she also had red eyes, which most definitely not everyone out of that place had, made for quite a strange set of coincidences.

 

The male was stumping around with the support of the other male, and it was very possible that one of his nuts cracked. They didn't know for sure, but since the man wasn't lying around unconscious, it couldn't be that bad.... Right? Or perhaps the adrenaline kicks in at some point and keeps you awake? Who knows.

 

So, the healthy group (except one wounded male) made their way towards the bank. On their way, they didn't meet much more than an occasional zombie, which wasn't weird considering a military-grade enforced bank was nearby. As well as a trade city that regularly received merchant caravans planning to move from one place to the other. In fact, He was more surprised that he saw zombies so often after all. Weren't they slow during the day and pretty much a free crystal?

 

When he asked Alice, she explained to him that Walkers, sometimes called " Living Dead," are a weak yet complicated species. They get faster and smarter at night while they're pretty inactive at day, but that doesn't mean they're always easy kills. Although weak and inactive during the day, they are, in fact, active during the night. You got slow ones, Runners, and even mildly intelligent ones. Some of them also bury themselves underground or try hiding when they believe daytime is coming close. They aren't as smart as humans nor an inferior version of humans. They can be pretty dangerous in groups, Especially the sprinters. After all, unless you shoot them through the brain or their crystal, they'll just get back up again.

 

If you accidentally hit the crystal, you won't really get anything from it. So yeah, they can be quite annoying. If that isn't annoying enough, it is apparently a species that can procreate through sexual intercourse, which is quite weird considering the type of creature it is. When there are enough dead but fresh bodies around, they might also all plump it together and infect it, creating a weird fleshy mob that generates more of them. People refer to this as a " plague heart," and they're often cleared out before it gets too bad. Both because the relatively weak monster that's seen as an easy source of income during daytime can become quite problematic if it gets out of hand as well and because the material of a plague heart can be used for some rare alchemy items. As if that isn't bad enough, a plague heart releases a toxic air capable of infecting people who aren't vaccinated. Even if you are vaccinated, it can be quite harmful to the body, so continuous exposure is still quite deadly, which makes zones near it inhabitable without a mask with a filter unless, of course, The plague heart is wiped out. The mist also keeps the walkers energized and active even during the daytime, and if you attack the plague heart, it gives a pulse, Alerting all those zombies in the vicinity. So it's best to use explosives or fire, with the former being used more than the latter because more material is left over after an explosion than after a burning session. Besides that, If you can plant the explosives without alerting the plague heart, it pretty much prevents you from having to deal with a horde of the things.

 

So, all in all, the seemingly easy-to-farm currency generators weren't all that easy if the conditions turned a bit nasty. A fair share of wastelanders had the great idea to hunt them at night after seeing how easy they were during the day. Just to find themselves turned into the hunted, For these beings craved the flesh of the living.

 

They made small talk and killed some more Walkers on their way; although there weren't many, there always seemed to be some. So Max made some progress on his kill quest while they were on their way to the bank; just like previously, Max just handed the crystals over to Alice, who had a battery to store their energy. This way, they didn't have to carry extra crystals around, although Alice advised Max to keep some on them in case of trade. Max didn't see the point since he could trade food directly.

 

They continued their conversation when Max finally remembered something.

 

"Fuck that's right, The pills."

 

Both girls gave him a look, although the bandit girl's one was a knowing one, the one of Alice wasn't until realization suddenly hit her.

 

"Fuck, I'm not sure how I keep forgetting something so important. I better don't mess up with the normal birth control; otherwise, you'll impregnate me for real."

 

Max couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing her foul mouth again. He hadn't seen this side of her for a bit. Then again, it wasn't weird for a girl to show her good side to the boy she took a liking to. Not that she loved him, but she just liked him a little like a great friend; okay, maybe a little more, but no love or romance.

 

Max simply gave her and the Bandit girl both a pill while Alice grabbed a bottle of water out of her pack. She had reorganized the bag contents and kept the inside of her pack private, Out of the eyes of the rest. This way, they couldn't guess how much of the content was clothes or actual other items. So, if multiple bottles appeared, they would likely assume it simply came out of her pack. Although Max had to come up with some type of trick sooner or later, It would do for now.

 

The girls both swallowed their pills in order to kill off the pitiful seeds that had just made themselves comfortable in their eggs, Putting hard effort into fertilizing them just to be exterminated like this. Max couldn't help but think that a reincarnation novel somewhere had come to an end; although he wasn't too knowledgeable about it since it was more his sister's thing, he had enough basic knowledge since she pestered him about them. She even tried pulling an " Oni Chan " play on him, but that was quickly disciplined.... She slept in their mother's room that night.

 

Hannah also took a generous sip and was quite flabbergasted by how tasty water could actually be. For a moment, she thought it was too precious to consume, but Max was quick to clarify to her that it wasn't a problem. She tried insisting that she could simply drink the wasteland water they had, but Max insisted that she drink it like his other girls. The reason the bandit girl got to drink as well, even though she was a slave and, generally speaking, a bad person, was because she had made herself useful to Max in more ways than one. Once the soon-to-be male slaves made themselves useful, they, too, Would get the same treatment. Until then, the wasteland water was for them; the Same went for food that he looted there. Max had 50 or so pieces of nutritional solution, which he felt was better not to touch or consume. Seeing how they had no problem drinking boiled-down radiated water, he didn't want to know what they ate in a world that wasn't capable of proper agriculture.

 

They eventually reached the bank, which wasn't too far from the middle of the city, but to their surprise, they found a total of 8 mutant cows as well as eight small carts to accompany them. The only reason he knew it was a mutant cow was because Alice was quick to call it out. Mostly to hint it for Max; after all, If Max asked everything, that merchant girl was going to have serious doubts. Alice wasn't stupid and was considerate enough to cover for Max where possible, Assuming she thought of it that was.

 

At the mutant cows were two armed individuals, although their firearms were on their backs; with the droids around, they didn't have too much to fear. They just needed to keep someone on watch to ensure the cows weren't snatched because the droids didn't stop anyone from taking stuff that wasn't considered " bank property ". This meant that as long as no one screamed or made some type of fuzz, the droids wouldn't move because some item was moved in and out of the bank.

 

One of the Merchant guards waved them over while the other one went inside, Probably to inform whoever was in charge. Max let Alice take the lead since he wasn't too familiar when it came to dealing with wasteland folks, so Alice made their way over. To his surprise, She didn't sound as charming as she usually did.

 

"Merchants, I presume?"

 

The carts and mutants made it pretty obvious they likely were merchants or some type of raider group that just got lucky. Although she doubted groups large enough to hit caravans of this size were in this area, With the water limitation it would be quite expensive after all.

 

The Merchant guard was quick to answer.

 

"Sure am. What about you guys? The collar girl just screams bandit."

 

Alice chuckled before responding.

 

"That she is. She made some dumb choices, and here she is."

 

The bandit girl simply shrugged, which rather surprised the guard. Apparently, she didn't think her situation was too bad, which was an interesting thing to know. After all, How a slave felt and behaved often said something about the master.

 

"We'll be going inside."

 

Alice didn't ask for permission. The building wasn't theirs, and she didn't feel like wasting time acting like it was. Max, on the other hand, thought it could be said in a more subtle manner but didn't put it to mind. She passed the guy who couldn't help but comment to Max.

 

"You got one hell of a feisty sister. A hot one to let me know if y'all want to earn yourself some extra crystal tonight."

 

Max couldn't help but visible frown at the man, Not because she was calling her his sister but because he was offering them to whore Alice out.

 

"She isn't my sister, and she's already mine, so back off."

 

The man chuckled at his reaction and innocently put his hands in the air. Max also heard the bandit girl release a playful whistle behind him. Apparently, this behavior was pretty normal in the wasteland, and most people didn't put too much mind to it. The fact that he showed such a strong reaction was apparently something they could enjoy. Either way, Max put no further mind to it and followed Alice inside while the rest soon followed as well. The only one who didn't consider the situation funny was Hannah; she instead curiously thought.

 

' So she isn't his sister? '

 

They we're quick to notice a few people inside who gave them curious glances but didn't further react. As Max looked around, he couldn't help but wonder aloud.

 

"Is it always this busy here?"

 

The bandit girl responded and was quick to clarify.

 

"No, Most probably belong to the same group, with only a few of them being independent; at least, that's my guess. Especially considering how many of them are wearing a slave collar, Probably merchant slave guards."

 

Max gave a nod; after all he had seen and heard so far, he could live with it. Alice was already making her way up to the VIP room, and Max happily followed along, Hannah, The bandit girl, as well as the two male prisoners closely behind.

 

There was an armed male guard outside the door, although it was mostly for show, considering the armored droids visible within the bank's interior. The man tried to stop Alice, but she simply grabbed him by the balls and gave him a questioning look as if she was asking him to try something. The male backed off, and she soon passed through the door; Max followed while the rest waited outside, Except for Hannah, who didn't care what the bandit girl suggested and simply followed Max.

 

The bandit girl, Even if no one could do anything inside, thought it wouldn't be smart to annoy a bigger and stronger group, but alas, Alice apparently didn't care and thought every merchant worth their weight in piss wouldn't make things to personal to quickly, While Max was likely too inexperienced with this world to care. As for Hannah, well, she was like a curious puppy who had just recently had her leash removed and was just following Max.

 

When Max entered, he saw a kind-looking man who looked to be in his sixties, which, For the wasteland, was fairly old. He had brown hair, but a fair amount of it had already turned grey; next to him was a younger girl, presumably around 18. She was pregnant, Probably not that far off her delivery date. Next to the old man on the couch, With her face directed to the couch, thus not visible to Max, was a younger girl around thirteen, he'd guess. Also, brown-haired and presumably the younger daughter of the male. Around them were a few men, some of them clear guards while others looked to be having different functions. None of them wore a collar, and they were all dressed nicer than the men below; they gave Max and Alice a curious glance. Max politely nodded towards them while Alice simply skipped past them going to the cabinets. She fiddled around in them, Clearly looking for the gold Max wanted.

 

The old man interrupted him in an elderly voice,

 

"There's nothing there, young miss; It's been picked clean long ago. If you are hungry or thirsty, we will be able to offer you a meal or a bit of water. The Same goes for your brother here."

 

Max couldn't help but wonder why everyone thought they were siblings but knew better than to make a fuss over it again; Alice, on the other hand, only gave him a polite smile.

 

"Thanks, mister, but I'm good; this young man right here isn't my brother but my Master; he will provide for me."

 

The man didn't show anything on his face, yet his voice was slightly surprised and curious as he moved to Max.

 

"That's interesting. The girl clearly looks more... Experienced than you. The way she entered the room, Checked everything out, and carried herself around, unlike you who just barged in. She seems to be a free girl as well, Not that it's any of my business."

 

The man gave a chuckle as he took his glass and zipped from it. Max wasn't sure what it was, but it looked like whisky.

 

The man offered him a glass, but Max politely refused. Alice, on the other hand, continued on skimming through the room and soon came back to Max, Carrying 3 200G gold bars that didn't have any markings as well as a small pouch of gold coins, Presumably used to play poker or something along the likes with. The cards were obviously gone, though.

 

The old man gave them a curious glance but didn't dig into their business too deeply; Max gave Alice an appreciative nod as well as a kiss on the forehead. She, however, was quick to teasingly state.

 

"If you think a kiss on my forehead is gonna be enough your mistaken, I expect some kisses elsewhere tonight."

 

Max couldn't help but feel slightly shy after all; they were in a room filled with other people. The old man was quick to notice it and laughed loudly.

 

"It sure is good to be young."

 

Alice also added in.

 

"It's not like anyone here cares what we do; at most, a perv might jack off to the sound you gonna make me release. No one would dare to interrupt us in a place like this."

 

Max, however, still felt slightly embarrassed and coughed; trying to change the subject, he addressed the merchant.

 

"So, What're ya selling, mister, Merchant?"

 

The man was experienced enough to know that he was just trying to change the subject. He, however, didn't mind playing along.

 

"Mostly some tech stuff from a city further away. I am planning to sell it in New Haven and see if I can find any interesting items on the market worth my time. If not, I'll stock in on some mutant fish; They breed them in the Lake New Haven controls. Maybe they might have a nice slave or two; I then make my way back and sell what I stocked in here with a profit as well. Just to repeat the cycle, It is the life of a traveling merchant. After all, New Haven is a good trade hub, so there are interesting things every now and then. They're gone just as quickly, though, so I mostly keep going on the profit of selling tech and mutant fish while making bigger money on the interesting items that appear every now and then."

 

Max gave a subtle nod at the information he provided him with and then asked.

 

"What would a slave collar cost me?"

 

The man gave him a happy elderly smile and pointed towards the seat in front of him, Where a man was already sitting. The sitting man, however, wasn't stupid and was quick to stand up, Making room for Max, who, after waiting for a second, sat down. The man poured him a glass of whisky, and although Max wasn't much of a drinker, he decided to man up and take a sip.

 

The elderly man could see in his reaction that he didn't enjoy it as much, which wasn't weird considering the whisky wasn't of high quality; it wasn't low-quality crap either. It was just medium quality, which could be compared to the cheaper stuff from Max's own world. The man chuckled and replied.

 

"No need to force yourself, young man."

 

Max gave an awkward chuckle and was about to empty the given glass so he could give it back but was interrupted by Alice, who grabbed it from him and sipped it down in one go. He gave him a soft kiss on the cheek, after which he returned the glass to the elderly man. The man, instead of taking the glass, simply filled it once again, and Alice, realizing that they likely could keep it up longer than her, decided to calm down.

 

Instead, she sat down on top of Max's lap, Making herself comfortable while gazing into the elderly man's eyes; the man got the message and continued where he had previously left off.

 

"The price of the collar depends on the type you buy, young man; the really cheap trashy ones go for about one medium crystal and aren't really more than a small detonatable bomb around one's collar. The basic ones that have more functions, such as detonating after an X amount of time without an administrator or moderator signal, are about 2.5 medium crystals. The more advanced ones that read brainwaves and, are able to enforce a certain amount of rules and instructions, and have a GPS located in them are five medium crystals. Besides that, you have some custom stuff, but prices quickly go up if you go beyond the basic stuff. This is the market price, of course, so we normally sell in bulk a little under that price. When dealing with individuals who don't buy bulk, we normally ask the market price, but for you young lads, I'll give you the bulk price. Five small crystals under the medium and advanced one and two small crystals under the trashy one, although I wouldn't recommend that one unless you want to get killed in your sleep, that is."

 

The reason no one recommended the trashy one was because it was essentially a bomb around one's neck that couldn't be removed. It worked great as a deterrence for prisoners or labor forces so they couldn't escape, but for a wastelander living outside, it'd be too risky. After all, The slave only had to kill you before you could detonate his collar so all in all it wasn't advisable for small groups traveling outside. Unlike a big group that could constantly supervise said slaves or a group in a fixed location that could lock them in cages during the night. So it was better to just pay up for a basic one. That way, you could also trust them with a weapon to a certain degree. After all, If they shoot you and you got your settings right, they'll just explode after an X amount of time.

 

Max was quick to take a peek at his own slave management app, and the settings that we installed for collar 98639, which was the collar the bandit girl was wearing, were set to explode 24H after a connection loss. A connection loss would happen if the watch around Max's wrists didn't detect a heartbeat anymore and thus stopped sending the signal or if the collar was out of range. Max was quick to set it to 72H since he went from place to place occasionally; seeing a moderation tab, he was quick to make a mental note.

 

'I'll gotta look into this deeper at a later moment.'

 

Max was still in conversation with the elderly merchant, and it was quite rude to keep fiddling around with his watch, so he only quickly changed this setting before going back to the elderly man. The experienced merchant was quick to notice his lack of experience but didn't make further use of it and instead calmly explained.

 

"If you are not experienced with your management perms for whatever reason, Then you probably don't know about the moderation setting either. Although you can probably figure it out on your own, Allow me to quickly elaborate."

 

Max gave an appreciative nod, after which the merchant continued.

 

"You can basically appoint moderators and give them a set amount of permission. The usual stuff includes the ability to give pain/shocks to a slave or detonate their collars. You can give them permission to lock and unlock the collar as well, but that isn't advisable, nor does it often happen. Besides that, It's possible to make a moderator able to emit a life signal as well, which can come in handy if you want them to do something or undertake a journey while you aren't present. However, this can be considered a double-edged sword since it means the live signal of the moderator is able to keep the assigned slaves alive, meaning your live signal isn't always necessary to remain.... I would advise making sure said moderator is collared as well and connected to you to ensure your death indirectly assures theirs as well. You can just increase the timer on said moderator to be safe or better yet, Only transfer the required permission when it's necessary. There is nothing better than acting on a " need to have "basis in a world like this."

 

Alice didn't respond; she agreed with what the man had to say and continued to sip her whisky silently. Hannah, on the other hand, started to get a little impatient, Especially since Alice was occupying Max's lap, which she had taken a liking to. The girl had been standing on the sideline just watching and observing it all for a while now, and although she understood Alice's position to be higher than the bandit girls, she couldn't help but slightly pout.

 

Something which both Alice, Max as well as the merchant noticed. The latter of which laughed, Max chuckled softly, patting the girl while Alice wiggled her lower half against Max, Further leaning into him while giving a playful smirk towards the smaller girl.

 

The elderly merchant was quick to comment to one of his men.

 

"Get some more chairs from downstairs."

 

The man gave a nod and left to get more. Meanwhile, Max returned his attention to the merchant. He gave him a happy smile and reached out his hand, which the man took.

 

"The name is Max. Nice to meet you."

 

The man shook his hand while returning the gesture.

 

"William, Nice to meet you as well, young man."

 

Max waited for a while before smiling.

 

"Then let's go down to business, shall we? Alice dear.... The backpack?"