Hearing Jeanne's sudden, whimsical remark, Lemuen looked at her "big sister" with a gaze reserved for brave warriors and absolute suckers.
However, she was used to Jeanne's flights of fancy; the girl would pop an idea into her head at any given moment, only to abandon it shortly after. After a moment of silence, Lemuen extinguished Jeanne's ambitions with a single sentence.
"If you started a company, could you even handle the accounting? Even if you hired someone to help, you'd need to know at least the basics, wouldn't you?"
Upon hearing this, Jeanne wilted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Her plan to open a shop and live a life of comfort was immediately discarded. Thinking it over seriously, she realized she truly lacked any talent for business; she'd likely end up losing a significant chunk of her own money.
"I have to think of some path! Leaving all that money in the bank just to collect interest every day isn't exactly a plan!"
Jeanne thought back to the share of wealth given to her by the Laterano delegation after their transaction with Ursus. The long string of zeros behind that number had truly shocked her. Although she had expected her cut to be substantial, the final figure exceeded her wildest imagination; a few days had passed, and she was, for all intents and purposes, a multi-millionaire.
How rich was she, exactly? To put it this way: she could buy a grand piano like the one in front of Swire's mansion and smash it for fun every day without causing so much as a ripple in her bank balance.
"Terrifying rich people..."
Lemuen, thinking of those assets, could only offer a dry response. Deep in her heart, there wasn't a single shred of envy. Absolutely not! Though, if she had that kind of money, she'd probably find a nice place to go on vacation immediately.
"If you really want to start a company, I can ask around for you. Perhaps you could entrust the money to the Church folk to manage; they're absolute experts at that."
Despite Jeanne's unreliable ideas, Lemuen provided a solid lead: go to the Laterano Church. They certainly had ways to handle such wealth. Furthermore, those people were unlikely to embezzle it—or rather, given Jeanne's status, if they purposefully seized her funds, they'd risk falling from grace.
"I'll consider it later. But I feel starting a company might be better; it could be useful in the future."
Jeanne glanced back at that enterprise from Kazimierz. It was clearly an extension of a major local power. It seemed that setting up shops or legal branches was a convenient way for organizations to provide their agents with proper identities and a place to stay while executing missions in the city.
And the City Executives didn't seem to mind. The "Originium Cloud" was a blatant example, and Wei Yenwu had tacitly allowed their existence. Perhaps one day, Reunion would also need such a cover? But even if she thought of it now, it was likely something that wouldn't be needed for a long time.
Right, I'll note it down. When the day comes that we need it, we'll do it then. No rush.
The two left the area. Behind them, inside the shop, the blue-haired Kuranta named Roy had already vanished, as if he had never been there at all.
The first place the two Lazurites prepared to visit was the original site of the company—the place that had been turned into a wasteland by Jeanne's flames. The Director's people had already taken the lead in the investigation; they were among the ten excavation teams responsible for digging through the remains of that facility.
Even the two Lazurites had to admire the Director's habit of placing "idle pieces" everywhere. He had sleeper agents in the economic centers of several major powers. Usually, these pieces were responsible for making money; at critical moments, they were the stepping stones used to enter the game.
"So, you've been digging for nearly a week and you've found absolutely nothing?"
Looking at the contact in front of her, Monique marveled at the sheer lack of efficiency. To go this long without a single clue... if her own subordinates failed to report any intel after such a long time on a mission, they could consider themselves retired from the Armorless Union early.
"It's not that there are no clues. Look at this!"
The man pulled a metallic, shimmering object from a nearby box. However, some unknown substance had melted into it. It looked like molten glass, but since the two of them weren't experts in that field, they didn't understand what he was playing at.
They turned their gazes toward the man, waiting for an explanation. This would directly determine their attitude toward this worker.
"This is indeed just a product of metal and glass melting together. But the key isn't just the metal; it's the glass inside. It's not ordinary glass!"
He handed a test report to the two of them. By now, he felt his clothes were soaked with sweat. He had heard of the legendary Armorless Union—rumored to be the ones who did the dirty work for the high-ranking officials, a group of cold-blooded killers. Talking to such people was a massive challenge to his mental state; one wrong word, and he might be silenced forever.
"This is a special glass commonly used by Rhine Lab. It's generally used in operations involving human experimentation—it's practically standard equipment for Rhine Lab's human trials!"
He was very well-informed about Rhine Lab matters; perhaps the technician he knew had a very detailed understanding of such things.
"So, the situation here is inseparable from human experimentation! What else did you find? If you have more, don't play riddles at a time like this," Roy interjected. His tone was entirely different from Monique's, instinctively making one relax. Especially with that smiling face, he gave off a somewhat unprofessional vibe, but for some reason, one felt he could be trusted to a degree.
However...
"There's nothing else. Aside from this metal, all we've dug out is dirt. We can't find a single trace of anything else!"
On this point, the supervisor was also in despair. Logically, if human experiments were involved, there should be some biological residue from the test subjects. No matter how you dispose of a corpse, you leave something behind, right? Moreover, this was just a fire; normally, one should be able to find partially burned subjects.
But the result was—nothing! This wretched place was as clean as if it had been looted; they found nothing but melted metal.
"What about the other teams? How much do you know about them? Have they dug up anything valuable?"
Roy's mouth twitched, his smile momentarily freezing. He even felt an impulse to shoot an arrow through the man in front of him. Fortunately, he suppressed the thought; the man was still useful for now, so he had to endure him a bit longer.
"The other teams? Five of them are from Columbian companies. Among the remaining four local teams, none are simple; they all have someone behind them. Because the pay for this operation is simply too low—it's impossible not to lose money."
Recalling the payment for this mission, the man couldn't help but complain. Mostly, it was because the relevant departments in Lungmen were too stingy; they refused to pay much, and the bidding process was won by the lowest bidder.
Hearing his complaints, how could the two Lazurites not guess the identities of the other teams? They were undoubtedly subordinates of various factions, all here for the "treasure" buried beneath the ruins.
"Looks like the two of us will have to work overtime tonight. If only Platinum were here, we could dump this work on her and go do more important things."
A look of "I don't want to work overtime" appeared on Roy's face. But this wasn't Kazimierz, after all; there was no Platinum here to act as his corporate drone.
Monique, standing beside him, had no intention of responding to his comment. She simply stared coldly out the window.