OLD-WORLD EXTRA-Chapter 523: Purple’s Friend

***

"So, you're telling me we're after some fucking fixer?"

Judal's voice cut through the quiet hum of the room, dripping with disbelief.

Emir turned his gaze away from the hologram flickering in the center of the table-a near- perfect reconstruction of the man he'd built from memory-and looked at Judal, who was seated to Amon's right at the head of the table, his face showing frustration.

"Yeah, but not just any fixer."

He leaned back in his chair, arms crossed.

"This guy's deep in the system, just below the CEO in level."

"So a manager?"

Emir nodded at Morgiana.

"AgroTech, or rather, Stellar trusts him enough to handle their messiest jobs, the kind they don't want anyone to even whisper about, so they have to keep his security on lock and key." "So, what?"

Judal shot back, gesturing at the hologram.

"He's just some over-glorified hitman with a mop. Even you can kill him."

"True, but he is not what matters, the ones who matter are those who could hire him."

Ragnar, seated opposite Emir, tilted his head.

"Don't we already know that it's the Praying Lady?"

Morgiana palmed her forehead, as did Emir, forgetting how dumb his brother could be outside matters of Space.

"We do dumbass."

"We want to know exactly through whom she did it from."

Ragnar let out a grunt.

"So what's the plan? We just knock on Stellar's door and ask them for their employer's info?"

Emir ignored the sarcasm, his mind already done formulating a plan.

"Almost... but not quite."

Judal rolled his eyes.

"Of course not. You've got a genius plan, don't you? Can't wait to hear it."

He shot him a look, as did Ragnar, about to erupt, but before he could speak, Emir raised his right hand, stopping both of them.

"Here's the thing: we can't just track the employer down ourselves, we don't have enough clues."

"Ah, but after your dive, we know how to get more of them."

Not minding Ragnar's interruption, Emir continued:

"Exactly. We can't just rush into their base, the place's crawling with security, boosted Seraphims, and high-tech systems that we don't know of. We can deal with the rest, but it's dangerous to attack a building that could literally fight back. Especially not when surrounded by similar buildings. So, instead of our usual style, we need a quieter approach."

Judal smirked, leaning forward.

"Let me guess. You'll have one of our asses sent to the guillotine."

Emir nodded, his own smirk getting wider.

"That's right. We'll contact AgroTech directly. Anonymously."

Amon raised an eyebrow but said nothing, waiting for him to continue.

Ragnar looked like he was ready to laugh, while Morgiana remained silent, as did Judas, who surprisingly hadn't said much since the start of the meeting.

"We'll request their services, asking for a special someone to get rid of a friend. Have them drive us to our target."

Ragnar's laugh erupted like a broken damn.

"Hahahahahahahah! Akh, you're incredible, seriously! Ahahahaha! That won't backfire at

all!"

While he enjoyed the time of his life, Judas finally spoke, his voice lower than usual:

"And this 'friend'?"

This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.

Before he could answer, Morgiana stood up, banging both her arms down on the table.

"I'll do it!"

Every head turned to her, eyes boring into her.

But, she remained straight, her gaze steady.

"...Sure."

Just from that alone, Emir knew that she was ready, and so he agreed- simple as that.

She nodded without celebration, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips as she sat back down.

"Here's the plan."

Emir stood up and paced around the room.

"Morgiana will be the victim of our assassination. We'll sedate her completely, pump her full of drugs to slow her heartbeat to near-death levels, and equip her with a signal killer to make her impossible to detect. AgroTech will believe she's just another corpse."

"And once I'm in?"

Morgiana asked.

"Once you're transferred, you'll need to stealth your way to the nearest console and connect to their system. From there, the files you have will do the work for you-hacking into their database and retrieving the data we need. Specifically, the identity of Purple's friend."

"Wait."

Judal gave him a skeptical look.

"This chick is excited and all but why her? Why not send a Shadow Binder for this?"

"Because we don't have one available..."

He glanced at him.

"Trust me, if I did, I'd have gone ahead with the plan a while back."

Lyra was stuck in a ruin halfway across the planet so he couldn't rely on her right now.

They didn't have the time to wait for her, and even if they did, she was not exactly viable for this mission. Her full metal body's signals would be nearly impossible to mask, especially not

without using Aether.

Judal muttered something under his breath, but he didn't argue further.

"Once you've got the data."

Unbothered, Emir continued, turning back to Morgiana.

"You'll return to the body bag and wait for the transfer to the barn. From there, you make

your escape. Avoid killing, but do so if you must."

Silence filled the room as everyone processed the plan.

"Suggestions? Fixes?"

He asked, scanning the room.

Judal opened his mouth, probably to throw another jab, but Amon raised a hand, silencing

him.

"The plan's solid... Proceed."

Everyone began filing out, heading off to prepare, but Emir remained in place, his gaze

lingering on the hologram.

Amon, still seated at the head of the table, looked at him knowingly.

"You want an incentive."

He didn't respond, but the slight tilt of his head said enough.

Without a word, he felt the familiar weight of data package requesting access to his neural

network.

Allowing it in, he was met with a flash of images, videos, and names regarding an upcoming

auction.

Not just any auction, though, this one was a collaboration between Blackwood and many

other higher-ranked factions.

They would be held simultaneously on all the colonized planets in Sol's Domain.

Emir, scanning the info, had his eyes widen, but he kept his expression neutral. Silently, he stood and left the room, his smirk turning into a full-fledged smile as the door

swooshed shut behind him.

The hunt was on.