Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary

Chapter 561: Chapter 561 A Surprise Invitation

It had been around a week and a half since Avery had delivered the Odium Syndicate members to Cerise and given her all of the information that his team had downloaded from the production facility’s computers.

During all this time, Avery’s Company was waiting in limbo waiting for something to happen.

Their contact within the Odium Syndicate had reached out only once to cancel all of the shipping jobs that Ferdinand Karas was supposed to be handling.

For a little while, Avery had wondered if they had caught on to him, but just a little bit of sleuthing let him know that a lot of the other smugglers working for the Odium Syndicate were also out of work.

The destruction of the largest Paradise production faciality in the sector had ground the Odium Syndicate’s activity to a halt.

Avery felt a bit proud that he had been able to so thoroughly damage their operations, but he was also immensely bored with nothing to do.

He still needed to keep his cover, so it was not like he could take on other jobs while waiting.

Cerise was also busy conferring with higherups in the Alliance Police. Meaning no new orders were coming from her.

She did tell him that his contract was likely to be coming to an end soon though.

With the intelligence he had collected, it was almost certain that the Dramid Alliance would have to respond with force against the Zatis Consortium. Illegal drug traders could be tolerated to a degree, but mutagenetic experiments could not be allowed.

If a portion of the Dramid Alliance’s population started turning into monstrous creatures, it would cause no small amount of panic and disorder. That was something that could not be allowed to happen. Even if it meant war.

’I thought I would be able to throw myself into work as a distraction, but there is just nothing to do.’ Avery thought, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his eyes.

The deaths of his crew members was still weighing on him.

A memorial service had already been held, and the bodies of those with family had been prepared and sent back to loved ones so that they could hold their own funerals.

As for those that had no one close enough to take their bodies, they had been cremated and their ashes stored in a room meant to honor the fallen.

It was not a usual practice amongst mercenaries.

If a body of a comrade was recoverable, then it was typical to scatter their ashes out into space instead.

However, Avery had plenty of room on the Intrepid, and he wanted to create a place for the fallen to be remembered.

He was not going to treat anyone that worked for him as disposable and replaceable. Especially not those who died in combat.

"I think I might have started to become an alcoholic, if this stuff actually did anything for me."

Avery had pulled out a glass bottle filled with golden liquid, but he put it back without pouring any.

It was strong stuff, but he had to drink nearly the whole thing just to start feeling buzzed.

Unfortunately, one downside to his superhuman-like body was that he could not really get drunk.

Everything about him was too efficient, and the alcohol got broken down and neutralized before its intended effect could take hold.

That was not something he would normally be troubled about, but with his guilt and regret eating away at him, he would have liked a way to forget about everything, even for just a little while.

Luckily, a distraction arrived just a few minutes later.

His contact from the Odium Syndicate had reached out. Sending a message that he wanted to meet at the usual location.

Naturally, Avery suspected that this might be a trap.

He and his Company had covered their tracks well, but there was no guarantee that they had not been found out.

Had the meeting been located within the Zatis Consortium, Avery probably would have found a way to refuse.

With everything that was going on, he was not going to head back into enemy territory.

However, while the meeting place was deep in interstellar space with nothing around, it was still within the borders of the Dramid Alliance.

Even if an ambush was waiting for him, Avery could count on ships from Cerise’s fleet to back him up.

’I do wonder what’s changed all of a sudden. Last time we talked, he told me that it was unlikely that I’d get anymore smuggling work for at least a couple months. I doubt that there’s enough Paradise being manufactured for them to start distributing again.’

Not wanting to agree before having at least a slightly better idea about what was going on, Avery sent a message back, saying eh was happy to hear that he would be able to get back to work.

He made sure to emphasize that he was desperate for more money, to really sell his persona’s character.

Of course, he knew that there was no way this was about smuggling Paradise, but he did not want to come right out and ask any overt questions.

That would not be quite in character for Ferdinand, and he did not want to give his contact any reason to be suspicious.

Fortunately, his efforts paid off and the next message that arrived clarified that the Odium Syndicate’s smuggling operations were still suspended for now, and that it was actually a member of the Odium Syndicate’s upper echelons that wanted to meet with him.

"Jasmine, what do you think of this?" Avery asked, having called her in for her opinion while he was waiting for a response to his message.

"Hm, I’m not sure. It’s either really good, or really bad for us. If we can make a connection with someone high up in the criminal organization, it could give us access to a lot more information that would be useful for Cerise."

"On the other hand, we could be flying directly into trouble deponing on what their reasons are. Even if they really do want to commend us for our work and offer you a new job, it could lead us into a factional conflict. There is no telling what sort of condition their leadership is in right now after the loss of one of their major production facilities."

Avery had not considered that there might be internal fighting within the Odium Syndicate.

He had always just considered the organization as a whole rather than the people that made it up.

Naturally, when a bunch of powerful individuals gathered together, at some point there was bound to be a disagreement.

All it took was one mishap to set things off, and Avery destroying one of their major bases was far more than a small inconvenience for the Odium Syndicate.

"I don’t really want to get caught up in picking anyone’s side. Chances are that we’d have to head back to the Zatis Consortium and put ourselves in more danger. If that’s what this is about, I’m going to refuse and pull us out. Do you have any objection to this?"

He looked towards Jasmine, waiting for her response. She was a former member of the Alliance Police, so he trusted her judgment on this matter.

"Hm, I think that’s the smart thing to do. Perhaps if we had not already accomplished enough, I would have pushed for us to continue. But we’ve earned out pay so far as I’m concerned. There’s little point in taking anymore heavy risks."

Avery nodded in agreement and sent a respond to his Odium Syndicate contact that he accepted the meeting and would be there as soon as possible.

He planned to hear the executive out, but if what they were offering turned out to be more trouble than it was worth, that would be it.

Cerise was already planning on ending their contract soon.

If they conclude the job on mutual terms, then that would be for the best. For how long they had been working on this operation, Avery’s Company had already made a fortune.

More than enough to bankroll his future plans.

"Ah, our contact sent another reply. He said that ’she’s happy with our agreement to meet’. I guess that the executive that wants to meet us is a girl. I kind of had it in my head that all the people at the top of the Odium Syndicate were slovenly, grumpy old men like that station manager, Bartholomew." Avery said with an amused chuckle.

Except, while he found this a bit funny, Jasmine’s face had become much more serious.

"A woman. This could be more dangerous than I expected." She mumbled.

Of course, Avery still heard her since she was so close and asked her what she was worried about. Apparently, she was afraid that this female executive might try to seduce him.

"I highly doubt that. Remember, they think I’m Ferdinand Karas. My disguised face might not be ugly, but it’s pretty plain. Plus, I’m in a bunch of debt and obviously not the brightest star in the sky. No woman near the top of a powerful criminal enterprise is going to be interested in my fake identity."

"I wouldn’t be so sure. That mask only hides your face. Anyone that takes a close look at you would see that you have an amazing body. You can’t hide that with the formfitting clothing you’re always wearing." Jasmine said, rubbing her hand against his chest.

"Uh, we’re in my office right now and I should be working. Shouldn’t this wait until tonight?"

"No, it has been a while, and I can tell that you need some stress relief. Surely you can take a break for an hour or so." Jasmine whispered into his ear.

Whatever resistance Avery tried to put up crumbled quickly, and he locked the door to his office and set all of his communications to do not disturb.