A screen flashed in front of Silas's face. The screen refreshed at an insane rate, notifying him of the people who had joined the group chat.
Silas waited for a minute before he sent the first message.
[Admin: Hi]
No one replied to him. They were all businessmen who preferred to be direct rather than waste time on pleasantries.
Silas noticed the cold ignorance of his message and smiled.
'My knowledge on things like this is still too little,' he thought.
[Admin: If you are contacting me for bulk supplies, enter this chat room.]
A new room appeared on the screen.
Instantly, more than 70% of the people there moved to it.
[Admin: A moment please.]
Silas asked for a moment from the people in the main room.
"Rion, send the contract plan you drafted earlier."
A new message suddenly appeared on their screen, highlighting the contract terms for bulk purchases, and the clause that they could not resell.
After sending the contract file to them, he diverted his attention to the main chat.
[Admin: So, which contract do you want if not for bulk purchases?]
Silas knew the reason, but he wanted them to confirm it themselves.
[XXX: Become a private trader for our group.]
Silas read the first message calmly. Similar messages refreshed every second.
All of them only wanted Silas to become their private trader.
"Why are they all using anonymous names?" he wondered, sending another message.
[Admin: I don't have any plan to join a group.]
[XXX: Hear my proposal first.]
Several private messages pinged Silas, but he did not so much as glance at them.
He had made his stance clear.
[Admin: But I have another offer.]
No one responded to the message.
Silas expected the silence.
[Admin: You all can become shareholders in the company. For every million credits or equivalent you spend, you buy a share for the rifle only.]
[XXX: …]
Silas's screen showed that all of them were typing, but he also knew they were unsure of what to do.
[Admin: Also, you can only buy up to 5 shares.]
[XXX: Can you please wait so I can discuss this with the higher-ups?]
[Admin: Sure, everyone has an hour to discuss with whoever they want before we continue.]
He also knew that they could not make such decisions by themselves. They were only representatives from the huge corporations behind them.
Silas exited this chat and went to the other one.
Almost everyone had signed the contract, except those who left after reading the contract terms.
Out of close to 300 people that remained there, only a little over 150 were left.
[Admin: Since you have signed the contracts, you all can send your needs to the company's inbox. Also remember the forepayment from the contract.]
Everyone replied to Silas before exiting the chat room.
Since they had acquired the contract, they needed to inform the forces behind them.
Silas stood up from the chair, stretching his body as he released a groan.
The strand of silver hair that always hung on his face blew back for a moment, revealing the beautiful gold tint in his left iris.
Silas quickly returned the hair, covering his iris before he went to the assembly line, where all the rifles had been assembled.
Silas caressed them, stroking their bodies like they were his kids.
He picked one, posing like he was about to shoot before returning it with a smile.
"How do I take all of these to the store?" he wondered.
Walking out of the lab, he came back to the open area filled with labs.
He could not afford spatial storage now.
"Let's just find help outside."
He walked towards the gate, quickly finding the familiar guard.
"Hi," Silas greeted.
The guard quickly looked at Silas before giving a slight bow.
"What do you need, sir?" the guard asked.
"I have some things I want to move to my place, but they are too much to put into my AI space."
"Don't worry, sir. As a scientist, you can borrow a spatial ring for 3 hours daily. You only need to get one from the administrative office," the guard explained to Silas.
"Oh, thank you," Silas replied, bowing before he went back into the institute.
Reaching the office, he was greeted by the same silent air of the man who was just reading.
The robot came out from a corner.
It displayed the list of rings and their capacities.
It ranged from 4 cubic meters to as high as 50 cubic meters.
But the time also varied by space. For example, the 50 cubic meters had to be returned within 30 minutes, or you pay 10 credits for every extra minute.
'That is too big for me, I only need about 10 cubic meters,' he thought, selecting it on the screen.
He had to return it in 2 hours.
The screen flashed out of sight and was replaced by the ring.
Silas picked it up and went back to the lab.
On his way, he asked Rion, "How long has it been since I asked them to check with their leaders?"
"47 minutes ago, Master Silas. Some of them have started joining the chat."
"I need to hurry then," Silas muttered, picking up his pace.
He reached the lab soon and stored all his rifles into the ring.
He looked around, then began to walk out. "Thank you," Silas said to the guard on his way out.
"You can tip me, sir," the guard said.
Silas turned back, his face ashen. "Maybe next time," he replied.
The guard nodded. "No problem."
Silas nodded and walked away.
"Poor man, I shouldn't have explained anything to him," the guard said, shaking his head in mild annoyance before entering the outpost.