The Mech Touch novel Chapter 984

As his visit to the KNG’s design complex only stretched in the afternoon, after Leland left his quarters Ves still had the evening to himself. He decided to abuse his privileges again left the base after appropriating another military shuttle.

In any case, as a liaison mech designer, he didn’t have to pay too much attention on staying at his posts. He wasn’t assigned to a ship of a base after all, so hardly anyone cared if he departed without asking for leave!

"Where to, Mr. Larkinson?"

"Take me to the center of the Rain District."

The shuttle pilot actually turned around from his seat. "The Rain District, sir? That’s not advisable. That district is the turf of the Blood Claws!"

"Yes, I know. I’ll be perfectly safe there. It’s not as if they would ever dare to hurt a man in uniform. Now stop asking questions and get this shuttle in the air!"

Even if he didn’t have much free time to spend on Bentheim, Ves still wanted to get some private matters done. It was a rare opportunity for him to be able to run around on Bentheim while the war still went on, so how could he not abuse this privilege until it was bleeding and crying on the floor?

The shuttle spent a short time crossing above the city before it landed in the Rain District, a less-well off city district of Dorum. A lot of visitors and locals at the parking zone looked at Ves with askance as soon as he stepped out.

His service uniform looked completely out of place in the seedier part of the capital!

Ves merely smiled at the gawkers and began to walk along the main avenues of the district. Everywhere he walked, he drew many stares. Word would spread and footage of him would leak out. Perhaps many of them would wonder why he entered the Rain District in this getup alone, and the uncertainties from that would fuel the spread of his appearance.

While he didn’t intend to catch the public’s attention this way, it was a nice bonus even if it slightly tarnished his reputation for entering the Rain District.

After all, everyone and their mother knew that the Blood Claws held sway here. The gang owned many properties here through various dummy corporations, and they operated many businesses in the dark.

For example, Ves knew that the Blood Claws operated an underground mech arena as well as a black market here. The scale of both wasn’t that big or extensive due to their fears of attracting too much attention from the authorities. As long as these shady establishments didn’t draw too much attention to themselves, the local authorities on Bentheim weren’t inclined to spoil the party.

Ves couldn’t help but smile at the implicit cooperation. What took place on Bentheim sounded no different than the shady businesses that operated in the Harkensen System.

The only point of consideration was that Bentheim cared a lot more about maintaining a clean reputation on the surface. As a legitimate port system, they derived most of their revenue from honest industry and legal trade.

The problem was that illicit activities always followed everywhere where the money flowed. Port systems drew even more gangs than usual because of the sheer amount of transactions that went on. Therefore, the dominant position the Blood Claws held in Bentheim’s underworld was so strong that even the Planetary Guard closed their eyes to their activities as long as they upheld a social accord!

The three dominant gangs all effectively ruled their territories autonomously!

Having witnessed the blatant co-dependence of legal and less-than-legal activities, Ves knew that it reflected a sense of helplessness with regards to the authorities. Crime followed everywhere and have always existed since the dawn of time.

No matter if it was the galactic rim or the galactic center, plenty of people found ways to cheat the system or find a way to fulfill a need that the government frowned upon. Bentheim may be less safe and more chaotic with all the gangs vying for a slice of the pie here, but it could have been much worse if the Blood Claws didn’t depress the violence on their turf.

Fighting was bad for business. While small rivalling gangs of lowlives constantly fought over the less desirable parts of Bentheim, a place like the Rain District maintained relative order in order to make visitors feel safe enough to frequent their establishments.

Ves entered a run-down bar called the Three-Legged Mech.

"Oi, you that Larkinson fella?" A thug who waited near the entrance called.

"Yep."

"The Blood Champion told me to bring you upstairs. Let’s go."

Ves followed the fellow up some steps in the dinghy but strangely homely bar. He drew countless stares from the thugs and other lowlives drinking at this grungy establishment.

Once upstairs, they entered a private room where a single other person had already sank on a couch with beer stains on it. The woman looked up at his arrival and raised a lazy hand.

"Yo."

"We haven’t seen each other in years, and that’s all you can say to me, Raella?"

"What do you expect, Ves?" His brash cousin said in a heated tone. "Do you want me to get all googly-eyed at your well-cut uniform and your impressive decorations? I left the Larkinsons because I want to pursue my own career instead of mindlessly joining the military like everyone else!"

"Whoa there, I just wanted to meet, cousin. I’m not here to preach to you or drag you back to the family."

"Huh! Seeing you in your uniform just pisses me off. It reminds me of all the other aunts and uncles who are disappointed in me for not following the family tradition. It didn’t help that you tracked down my comm contact and ordered me to meet up with you. Just like that!"

"I remember I specifically sent you a request. If you didn’t want to meet me, you could have just said no." Ves replied aggrievedly.

"Yeah right. Who the hell would be able to say no to the latest darling of the family? Except for that fellow Ghanso, you’re the most decorated Larkinson of our generation!"

Ves should have felt proud of that, but Raella made it sound as if he became a mindless Larkinson drone who followed the family’s tradition of volunteering for military service.