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"This request... Are you sure about it?" Mazton asked Ashton, "I thought after all that happened between the two of you, you\'d not work with them no matter the reward."

Ashton knew what Mazton\'s reaction would have been regarding his request. After all, he saved Ashton from trouble when the Gold Water Mercs tried asserting dominance over him.

"I believe people can change. Whether it\'s for the worst or the best depends on them." Ashton replied, "But I would like to be optimistic for once and put my faith in them once. That\'s all."

Mazton knew Ashton well enough by now. Although new in the mercenary world, Ashton wasn\'t someone who would forgive anyone who tried to boss him around.

After witnessing what the Gold Water Mercs had tried doing to him, there was no way Ashton would act all friendly with them. Yet, he was requesting cooperation with the mercs to reconcile their differences. Bullshit!

Mazton wasn\'t a fool to fall for Ashton\'s words. There had to be something going on inside his head. That said, if Ashton wanted to extend an olive branch towards the Gold Water, there was nothing Mazton or the association could do to stop him.

As far as acknowledging the proposal for a joint operation was concerned, the mercenary association couldn\'t intervene in the matter. They were only allowed to serve as a medium for two factions to discuss their partnership, nothing more.

Whether the factions agreed to work with each other or not was none of the association\'s concerns. But they were free to express their will if they suspected foul play from one or more parties during the operation, which was what Mazton was doing right now.

Ashton\'s action against the Gold Water Mercs wasn\'t going to be an issue. The problem will start if the entire Gold Water Faction decides to strike back. If that happened, even the whole Mercenary Association wouldn\'t be able to stop them.

That\'s why he needed to make sure Ashton did not do something that could come back to bite him in the ass later.

"I\'ll forward your request to the Gold Water folks, but I\'d suggest that you don\'t try to fool around with them." Mazton sternly warned Ashton, "Their leader might not give a shit about his soldiers, but he does care a lot about his reputation. If anything goes wrong, he will stop at nothing to avenge his loss of influence."

"Relax, although it might not mean much coming from my mouth, I have no interest in waging war with them either." Ashton replied with a carefree expression, "I just felt bad for taking all the quests from under their nose, so I wanted to do a good thing for once. Who knows, maybe we\'ll become sworn allies by the end of the job?"

"For your sake, I hope that\'s what you truly want." Mazton replied before tossing a card to Ashton, "Lord Testickle\'s promised ship arrived an hour ago. You can use that card to access the special dock. There, you\'ll meet Kass, and she\'ll be your pilot for now."

Ashton was happy about getting his spaceship, but he was surprised to find out Mazton gave him a driver as well. Truth be told, he did not want an unknown person on his ship. But more than that, he understood what Mazton was trying to achieve.

"I\'m hurt, sir." Ashton smiled faintly, "I thought you would trust me by now."

"Oh, I trust you." Mazton smiled back, "I trust you enough to do something you\'ll regret. That\'s why I\'m sending a close associate to help protect you from taking stupid decisions regarding the life of your crew."

"Eh, fine. You can do as you please." Ashton waved his hands and got up to leave, "But do you genuinely think anyone can stop me from doing stupid stuff?"

[Trust me, no one can. I have tried and failed countless times.]

Mazton and Ashton soon parted ways. Unlike Mazton\'s thoughts, Ashton wouldn\'t do something even remotely stupid while handling the mercenaries. The plan of action was already in place, and now, he needed to follow through with it.

"Revenge? Who the hell would want to take revenge on someone weaker than them?" On his way to the docks, Ashton mumbled, "What I\'m about to do is exploit a bunch of fools."

[Sometimes, I find that smile of yours to be quite intimidating. Are you sure you\'re not a villain instead?]

"Villain or hero, who the fuck cares? But if I wanted to pick a role, I would rather be called an Anti-hero. Those folks enjoy the better of both worlds."

[Can\'t argue with that- wait a minute! That\'s your ship?]

"I don\'t know, but I\'d like to think so!"

As Ashton stepped foot in the docks, his mouth was left open. Lord Testickle wasn\'t lying when he said he\'ll be handing Ashton one of the best ships in his fleet.

Completely covered in black, the destroyer-class starship was a flying wonder. The ship was similar to Lycaon\'s Ship in size but was much faster and had better defensive and offensive capabilities.

The ship was laden with not one but two EMP Pulse cannons, which Ashton was yet to see in action, and could carry various missiles onboard. On the sides, the ship also boasted ten autocannons that could shoot down any foe who dared to get close to the vessel.

"Other than the offensive armaments, it\'s a bit lacking in defence. The shielding isn\'t as efficient as I would prefer, but I can work on it sooner or later, provided I\'m given the necessary resources."

A feminine voice stole Ashton\'s attention. As he turned around, he noticed an ashen-skinned woman dressed in a jumper. Her orange eyes and pointy ears immediately gave away her identity.

[A Dark elf? She\'s pretty far from her planet.]

"You must be Kass. Mazton told me about you." Ashton extended his greeting to her, "I\'m Reaper."

"Yes, Mazton did mention you were a handful," Kass replied, "Now I can say why he thinks that way. I assume you want to tour your vessel, captain?"