The bounty hunters

Sakura turned her bracelet on and a hologram appeared, already with some text written on it. Though it was mirrored for Ender, he could tell what the title said with ease,

[Markus Odin Report, 9th November 2586]

Ender gulped audibly as Sakura crossed her legs while leaning forward. She maintained eye contact for some seconds, making him feel extremely uncomfortable. He even had to look away as he scratched his cheek.

Then, after what felt like an eternity, she said,

"What is your relation with ex-officer Odin."

Ender looked at her again, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said, "I met him yesterday, I didn't even know of his existence."

Sakura quickly typed the answer and proceeded with the next question.

"Since you handled ex-officer Odin by yourself, how did you manage to get yourself into that kind of situation?"

"Well... I was coming from a bar, I was hanging out with some friends..."

Ender explained everything that happened that day, from when he left Jackie's bar to when he passed out from exhaustion.

Since he trusted Sakura, as she was a close friend of Mr. Dan and such, he had no problem revealing most of the details and what happened inside the forest.

Though the first one wasn't of any utility, as she has already interviewed most of the witnesses, the latter caught her interest and diligently heard and typed.

Ender didn't modify anything, meaning that he told her exactly what happened, and how he was beaten to almost dead. Finishing up, Sakura finally labeled the murder as self-defense.

"Have you already interrogated the entire neighborhood?" Ender asked

"Not everybody, but most of it. Especially your neighbor next door, she was extremely useful when it came to her relation with ex-officer Odin."

"C-"

"No. Think of it as client confidentiality."

Before Ender could even open his mouth, Sakura already shut him off, not wanting to drag the conversation any longer. He took a sip from his coffee and re-adjusted himself.

Sakura got up after turning her bracelet off and she stretched her fingers a little bit.

"Consider yourself lucky Ender, Markus wasn't exactly the weakest officer of the bunch. That opening you got must have been a divine gift, considering his mental defense.

Even the higher-ups don't even know how the hell you managed to kill him, so I suggest, don't get into BB matters, especially those involving ex-officers."

"I know... I should stop starting fights I can't win, I don't even know what I was thinking." Ender chuckled.

"Well, if what you said was the truth, then you were thinking about protecting your friend."

Ender scratched his cheek in embarrassment as he got up from his seat, which gain some slight laughs from Sakura. Before he could open the door though.

"Talking about gifts, this is your reward. " Sakura took a small chip from her bracelet and handed it to Ender, who instantly recognized it.

"A bounty reward... Are you telling me he had a bounty?!"

"After ex-officer Odin got fired due to his reckless actions, simply put, he went rogue. All that moral he had inside the BB disappeared with just one action.

I know that your friend told you about her old home, it has something to do with that. He also planned some attacks against the BB, slowly increasing the price on his head.

Since you killed him, it means you get the reward. And I'm telling you, he was no ordinary target."

Ender carefully analyzed the chip, as it was the first time he has ever held one in his hands.

Bounties weren't exactly illegal in this era. Since Humanycs could go rogue at any moment, and the BB just couldn't be aware of the entire globe every single second, they set up a bounty website.

Here they would put any kind of slippery criminal they couldn't get their hands on, as some of them were exceptional when it came to criminal activity.

Ender occasionally heard about this website though he couldn't care less about it, since he was too weak to try anything. Well, he and everyone from his age.

"I will be going now. And please, be more careful from now on."

Sakura opened the apartment door and left without saying anything else. Ender looked toward the clock and it marked 10:15 AM, not too much time passed.

He stored the chipset inside the bracelet and turned his holographic laptop on, way faster than his current bracelet.

["Need to see something?"] Ren asked.

"I need to make an account on the website since you need it for both joining and receiving the rewards. Luckily I can register anonymously, still, I need a nickname..."

Ender stared at the register page, wondering which nickname to use. He didn't want to become a bounty hunter, so there was no need to choose a great name in case he gets famous.

After some thinking, he just decided to go for "Neph1s_". Like his surname but not the exact same, somewhat secure.

After successfully creating the account, making it anonymous except for the name, Ender linked his bracelet with the website, along with his bank account and such, now able to accept the rewards. But first, he wanted to see the actual amount.

He searched for Markus Odin, and his face appeared instantly, with a red sign saying "Deceased". Ender clicked on his profile and saw some of the background information.

"Rich family... good childhood... good education... one of the best students from the BB... he really lost everything. But his crimes, damn.

Homicide, arson, terrorism implications, assault on officers... good thing he is out the streets now. Now the reward is- HOLY SHIT!!"

Ender's eyes widened as he jumped off his seat. His jaw dropped while he continuously stared at the number in front of him. This was the first time he truly lost his shit over money.

["Damn, the BB sure went hard on him. I think it's more than enough for almost dying."]

Ender got back to his seat as he connected his bracelet to the laptop once again and put the chip on one of his bracelet's slots.

A pop-out message appeared saying,

[Transaction confirmed! Your actions are appreciated! Transferring the rewards to your account right now.]

Ender opened his bank account and hurriedly checked his savings, which currently marked...

"38.5K Earthies..."

He earned a whopping 30K Earthies from the rewards, boosting his savings from 8.5K to 38.5K, more than a 400% increase!

Ender went back to the website and searched for other ex-officers that have a bounty placed on them. When he checked the lowest bounty, which marked 47K, he understood that Markus was the one with the lowest one.

As he climbed, he noticed that the rewards went from money to money and items, and near the top fifteen with the highest rewards has only items or a special position inside the BB!

"What about the one with the highest reward..."

The first person that appeared was a humanoid with lion-like hair, covering his entire face and a big scar that went from his forehead to neck.

He had a rough-looking expression that could send someone to the afterlife if he ever met this person.

He went inside his profile to see which crimes he has committed that were severe enough to give a high-ranked position to whoever killed him.

"Let's see... the assassination of multiple active officers, blackmail, terrorist alliances... Destroyed an allied planet by himself..."

When Ender got to the last crime he did, his jaw slightly dropped at the thought of a human single-handily destroying an entire planet. Just thinking about it seemed crazy enough.

"The BB doesn't joke around with these guys for sure..."

Ender caressed his chin while gaining more information about the bounty website in general. It seems that most notable bounty hunters are retired, and younger ones are slowly rising among the ranks.

The bounties do not need to be accepted, as it seems that whoever manages to bring the head of the target to the BB gets the reward, no questions asked.

["Are you going to save that money for now? I think you can improve your current equipment."]

"I am not buying a weapon mold, since the BB gives you one after passing the admission exam and it's way better than those for the public. I will be waiting for that moment.

I could use a better bracelet though, this one is too small... and rusty already."

Ender went inside a website specializing in bracelets and search for a better tier. The bracelet tiers are ranged by size and how much they can contain.

His current bracelet is the one they gave him when he was six years old, a Tier 1. He wanted to aim for something higher than average, Tier 6, but it was too expensive. So he went for a Tier 5 which was just great.

He found a good Tier 5 and saw that they were extremely different from his current one. This one went from his wrist to half his forearm, and not only that, but it could also turn invisible.

"It can contain the same cubic meters my apartment is... well since the average is Tier 3 and can contain as much as a small bathroom..."

However, the price made his forehead frown a little bit, 5k Earthies. The average salary was around 1.5k Earthies, with 2.8k being the highest it has ever been since the Kobarycs.

And let's just say that monthly expenses weren't exactly cheap, especially in this era when everything needed some sort of maintenance.

Of course, from Tier 3 upwards it's not considered that an average person would buy them, as they serve more important matters, such as the transport of construction materials or a vast amount of military equipment.

Without hesitating, Ender bought the Tier 5 bracelet, an overkill to his overall usage of a bracelet; it would arrive after five hours.

"Well, time to finish today's tasks..." He looked around his apartment a little bit and said, "I can't wait for the BB exam, but it's still a long time until then."