Sharing With The Higher-ups

The time was just as the sun was turning orange, about to hide beyond the horizon. After walking leisurely for about half an hour, I reached our guild base.

As I entered, I could see a lot of personnel wearing the uniform of a construction company moving back and forth from the basement, bringing materials and tools. "They must be working on the finishing touches for the workshop."

"Ruin?"

Just as I entered the door, a voice immediately called for me. Turning to the sofa that was right beyond the entrance, a black-haired woman was sitting down while holding tools to perform maintenance on her revolvers. From the looks of it, she was just starting.

Seeing that there was only one member present, I asked. "Just Mina? Where's the rest?"

Mina shrugged her shoulders before gesturing for me to take a seat before her. I wasn't planning to keep standing during the entire conversation, so I took her offer and let my body sink deep into the soft cushions.

"Toki is at the office with Lily; they're working on the report for the previous excursion. Your sister said she's going home, while Hailey is off to do some light hunting."

Mina explained as she lightly dabbed her revolvers with machine oil using cotton balls. She was being careful since if the oil reached the handle or trigger, it could cause her hold to slip, which could lead to accidents.

There's also the option of wiping it clean afterward, but seeing her deep concentration, I guess it's more like a routine than just performing maintenance. "I see. Then I'll just wait for Toki and Lily here before showing you what I made."

"...?"

Mina's eyebrows raised as she heard my words. "Another weapon?"

"Nope. It's something else this time." I quickly shook my head, smiling in a teasing manner.

"Show it to me," Mina asked, placing her guns down and staring at me with a serious expression. "Your sense is a bit off when it comes to judging your own items, so I'll appraise it for you."

"That... Well, I can't deny." I sighed, opening my World Storage and pulling out the Portal Gun. "It's this thing. Be careful as it's heavy."

I placed it gently on top of the table, but the glass top started releasing scary sounds, so I quickly lifted it back up. I guess placing a heavy object above a glass table is a recipe for disaster.

"This is...?" Mina furrowed her brows, passing a judging gaze across the entire gun's body. "Make me a gun with the same design next time that's compatible with normal .357 Magnum rounds."

It seems she liked the sleek design. As soon as she took it from my hands, she brought up the item's panel and started reading it silently. "Hmm?" However, her furrowed brows deepened, along with a frown adorning her cute but stern face.

"Ruin! What the hell did you make?!" Mina asked, her voice shaking. "I'll call Toki and the others immediately!"

"Woah!"

I caught the heavy gun she casually threw while watching her back fade into the distance, going up the stairs and vanishing beyond the second floor. I could still hear her heavy and rushed footsteps, however, so I could still tell her general location.

"But still, was there a need to rush like that?"

Just as I was starting to wonder how to hold the portal gun without my legs getting numb, three steps of rushed footsteps came down from the second floor and to the lobby. "You crazy b*stard! You really did it?!" Toki exclaimed with an excited smile on her face.

She rushed to my side and tapped the gun that was resting on top of my thighs. As soon as she did, the same information panel popped up, informing them of the description. After a few moments of reading, Toki's eyes were glowing like stars. "Great! With this, we can have the upper hand in negotiating with the military!"

"Negotiating? What's wrong?"

Although I'm the guild leader, why is it that I don't know about such matters?

"Remember how we informed them of the 5th stage turtle monster, right? Toki was thinking that we could get a reward for finding it and also for destroying its nest," Lily explained as she peeked from behind Toki, reading the portal gun's description slowly.

That was mostly me, but yes, we did spend quite a lot of provisions for that. I used up all of Toki's prepared bombs after all. Knowing that our efforts did contribute to taking down that 5th-stage beast, it should be fine to claim a part of it as a prize.

"We're talking about 5th-stage monster materials; I doubt the government would easily agree to give us a part of it," Mina muttered with a pensive look. "But well, if they knew about the existence of this gun, then for sure the story would change. There's even a chance we can get the whole thing in return!"

A 5th-stage monster's materials. With that, I can properly deck everyone with equipment that could last them a while. The problem was that the turtle monster's materials looked like a pain to process. The shell, the spikes, and the foot's nails could be materials, along with the tendons and skin. Even if I create ten sets for everyone, I doubt the materials will run out.

"... Rather than the entire thing, I think it's better to get just enough materials for everyone plus some and use the rest as bargain materials with the government."

It's a giant monster; after all, even if we got the whole thing, I would probably have a hard time dismantling it by myself. No doubt the meat would go bad before I could even finish dismantling half of it.

Furthermore, it's never bad to let the government's top-level fighters gain some proper gear. We can't protect three cities by ourselves, after all.

"Alright! Now that it's settled, I'll go and make a quick call," Toki muttered, pulling out her phone and dialing a number quickly.

As she was busy with negotiations, Mina and Lily were asking this and that regarding the portal gun. However, I haven't tested it much yet, so I couldn't answer most of their questions.

"We'd need some tools to make sure the environment on the other side is safe for us," I explained as I stopped them from trying to use it before others knew of its existence.

Well, what could I say? As expected of heavy gamers? Anyway, our train of thought was basically the same. If only my level wasn't stuck at level 6, then I would've done everything I could to ensure our safety on the other side and start exploring the new map.

Soon enough, Toki returned, but her face was covered in a frown. I was worried about what she would say, but I ended up getting surprised in a good way.

"The three city councils agreed immediately for us to take materials enough for 15 people. I didn't even need to tell them about the existence of the portal gun," she explained with a wry smile. "Well, I did hint to them about it near the end, so they must be in turmoil right about now."

"Toki..." What a temptress!

She literally took all we needed before dropping a topic that would make their mouths water. Although I am mostly thinking like a gamer, to the three cities, the portal gun is like a ticket to a wide and unowned land where they could do "anything" they wish to. Farming, developing weapon factories, anything!

However, such a story would only be valid after the native forces on the other side were completely neutralized. It's hard for me to imagine that all the monsters there are over level 40, but I'd say roughly 10% of them, or the elites, would be around that level.

Thinking that they have about the same population as the humans on Earth, that means roughly 700 million insects on the other side are on or above level 40! "That sounds more like a nightmare than a paradise."

*BRRRRRR!*

"Oh, speak of the devil." Toki smiled viciously as soon as she saw the caller ID. After letting it ring a few more times, she finally picked it up and asked. "Mister Mayor! Did you forget to tell me anything? Why call me back?"

All of us stayed silent, but despite that, we couldn't hear the voice coming from the other side. Toki nodded her head several times, her smile turning wider each time.

"That's great! However, isn't your [sincerity] a little lacking?"

"..."

Although I couldn't hear the other side's voice, I could imagine his face turning sour as he negotiated. Toki was ruthless, hitting them without holding back at all.

The call lasted a full five minutes. Although it was short, the amount of information they exchanged was extreme. Toki was beaming after the call ended. After all, it could be said that it was her, or rather, our guild's, win.

"Now, we gained their cooperation! In exchange for using the portal gun a few times, we gained about 1 billion worth of rare metals and materials!"

Although I'm thankful for her getting so much from simply loaning the portal gun, I hope the city doesn't blacklist us in any way. Toki, you should exercise some restraint next time!