Number One Dungeon Supplier

"Jin. Commander of the Grey Bear Squad."

"I see, Commander Jin. I hope you do have a decent dinner with your War Maidens and a long chat with the last apprentice of Old Fammet. Name\'s Lant. Once you feel that you have enough of this …Hotpot, do tell my waiter, and we get started barbecuing your meat." Lant said as he bow, and finally smiled when he caught a glimmer of a gold bar which was slid to the corner of the table.

"Your information had been most helpful too. I hope to continue having an amicable relationship with you as well." Jin said as Lant was wondering why it was information rather than food. It bothered him a little but considering that he had not dug into his dinner, it was probably why he thanked him for the information that Nie was hiding.

"And here I thought I can get another gold bar from him. You are a sneaky one, Lant." Nie grumbled as he could see Lant grinning and waving his gold bar while he walked away from the table.

"Now it makes even more sense why you have so much clout in the area," Jin said as he asked Nie to have a try with the hotpot along as the other War Maidens were on the other table having their food served as well.

"How do you do it?"

"Just take the vegetable and dip it into the soup. Let it boil for a while before taking it out." Jin demonstrated by using a ladle which he requested from Lant previously and Nie tried it as per his instructions.

As the vegetable\'s texture softened, Jin picked it up to have a bite. As odd as the vegetable looked, its taste was not so shabby. To a certain degree, it complimented well with the soup too.

"Wow, it\'s actually not that bad," Nie said as the two of them continued their conversation with Nie telling Jin more explicitly how Old Fammet turned this way.

"If it\'s just the competition, he would have turned out fine. Old Fammet had fame back then, thus money was not an issue and he was able to purchase those items without much trouble. The problem and his downfall came when the major cooperations came together to frame him."

"How so?"

"By using the Empire\'s Tournament and asking him to bet on the War Maidens that he made. There was this commander by the name of Cai Fan. An oriental origin commander who supposed to traits like honour and duty." Nie said as he twirled his forks in circles midair a few times as if to signal that the story was going to be bad.

"Cai Fan had gotten his War Maidens from Old Fammet when he was still just a puny whiny officer barely passing with a 2nd lieutenant rank on his shoulders. But because of Old Fammet\'s War Maidens, he was able to get through various promotions easily due to the quality of the War Maidens."

"Of course, Old Fammet would be happy for him and even delighted to create a high quality customised War Maiden for the Empire Tournament as he know that Cai Fan would then be competing against the other commanders who had been sponsored by the major manufacturing corporations."

"He put his every heart and soul. Every skill and trick into the War Maidens as well as installing the Tactical System which was supposed to be a trademarked proprietary of his." Nie took a bite of the meat he ate and it was soaked with the soup\'s stock it tasted good. Even better when he dipped it in some light soy sauce.

"Shit… did he betray him big time?" Jin said as he knows that everyone has a Tactical System installed.

"Big big time. Cai Fan not only gave the War Maidens to the corporations to research on but also took their money so that their matches were fixed. Don\'t say Old Fammet, even I did assist with the building of his War Maidens back then when I am just a newly minted Mecha Smith apprentice."

"So, every match seemed like a close call but when it came to the finals, Cai Fan literally did not show up for the fight, citing bad connection links to the War Maidens and the corporations won by default. When Old Fammet wanted to check on this excuse, Cai Fan disappeared without a trace… only until recent Empire Tournaments. He is now a full ranked Colonel and definitely sure he will join the upcoming Empire Tournament as well. "

"Then I guess this betrayal had implications."

"Of course. Old Fammet bet his everything including his hard earnt reputation into this match. His grandiose shop had to be closed down and everyone was let go. Even those who eventually tried to help him back up, the major corps were still keeping an eye on him, forcing him and his benefactors into huge problems."

"It was so bad that people who tried to help him, were quick to rescind their aid. So Old Fammet had to get back up himself. It had been at least a decade or two since then and even though I still check on him from time to time, he did not seem taking it that well."

"He will scour for old junk and sell them. Sometimes, fixing a few stuff for people and if I remembered correctly, helped did some emergency repairs for a few commanders. Other than that, I saw him wasting his life away."

"I see.." Jin said as he continued drinking the soup from the hotpot.

"So, all I asked is that you have an open heart knowing that what he showed you might just be a relic from the past and not to hold against him for having such high expectations." Nie stopped eating for a moment and bowed a little to ask for forgiveness.

"From the way I see it, you had been helping him quite a fair bit, aren\'t I right? Including the owner here."

"You are not wrong. We did owe him our lives back then." Nie said as he turned to see Lant serving the others. "But that is a story for another time. I need to return soon. Thank you for helping as well as the …food."

"You are welcome. I hoped I did tip you well." Jin stared at the budge where he kept his gold bars within bulletproof jacket.

"You very much did, I can pay for my portion and I will also bring you to him tomorrow. There is no chance in hell, he would have remembered what had happened. Otherwise, have a good rest for now." Nie zipped up his jacket and then bid Jin goodbye as he quietly enjoyed the last portions of the hotpot.  It was not long later, Jin had called for the BBQ meat and he joined his chair with the table where his War Maidens were sitting so that they could have a pleasurable meal together.