Contract

Ed watched as the captain and his men merrily grilled and fried the octopus for consumption. They happily ate and drank like it was a party. He frowned and spoke with the captain, "This is a waste of time. I've got my men waiting ashore. We should hurry up before it gets dark."

"Haha, don't worry!" Fang patted him on the shoulder. "We'll bring back enough octopus for everyone waiting on shore. No need to rush."

Ed's eye winced. 'Is this bastard pissing me off on purpose?' He begrudgingly waited for hours as the party continued. He snacked on some grilled octopus on a skewer while waiting.

Captain Fang walked over and grinned, "We might as well stay the night on the ship. It's too late to get any real work done today anyways."

"You plan to just leave our men at the harbor with no defenses in the middle of the night?! What if a mutant horde attacks them?!" He yelled.

"Relax. They'll be fine! My men can handle it." The captain reassured. He walked some distance away and pulled out a small notebook and began to write in it. 'Reef Sinless Leader Ed. I first suspected him to be an esper, but now I believe I was mistaken. He is a confident man with little patience for leisure time. Appears to be very concerned about his group members. Might have impressive engineering capabilities? Is a calm individual even when being questioned and shot. Not afraid to take risks. Evaluation: pending. Need more data before making a final decision. Need to interview his citizens and soldiers.'

Ed spent the night in a guest cabin and awoke the next morning. Several small steamships were making trips between the shore and the big steamship. After several hours they were finished. The doctor and dozens of work mechs stood together on the shore. Hundreds of cargo crates were piled together, each one bigger than a man.

"How are your men going to carry all these crates back?" He questioned.

"I'll just have the mechs make multiple trips." Fang replied. "If we were going to be here long-term then I might setup a railroad for a supply line, but we won't be, and your base isn't that far from the harbor anyways. It makes things convenient."

"How long do you plan on staying?"

"Hmm. Your base is in better condition than most. It's also a smaller city. That'll save a lot of time, so probably about a month. We'll be erecting a new stretch of wall to repair the city wall the nightmare destroyed. Then we'll clean up the mutants in each neighborhood one by one."

Ed's eyes widened in surprise. "You can do all that in a month? That doesn't seem very feasible to me?"

"Haha." The captain laughed. "That's because you haven't seen our secret weapon." He yelled towards one of his men. "Bring the builder!"

"Yes!" A voice came back. A soldier dragged a person behind him. He pushed the person forward, causing them to fall to the ground.

Ed looked at the person. He was scrawny and looked like he hadn't eaten for months. His brown hair reached his shoulders. It was tangled and dirty. He wore rags for clothes and was completely barefoot. Metal chains bound his arms and legs. 'I didn't notice this man before… He looks like a beggar. This is a secret weapon?!' He looked at the captain and rose an eyebrow as if to question what this was all about.

Fang slapped the beggar on the back and smiled, "This here is Terra. She's quite the looker, right?"

"That's a she?!" He questioned in shock.

"Right." The captain nodded. "The HQ enslaved this esper about two years ago. She can control earth. We'll be having her construct the walls for us. The mechs will provide assistance."

"This… Controlling earth isn't a particularly rare power from what I've heard? As far as I know, controlling earth, fire, wind, or water should be the most common powers. What makes her so special?" Ed questioned.

"True." He replied. "When compared to other espers that can control ordinary earth, she isn't very different. However, her mana capacity is huge. She can do the work of a dozen other espers easily. Quite a rare talent for construction. The new earth wall won't be as strong as the previous metal walls, but it should last a decade. By then your government should finally get off their asses and construct a new metal wall."

"I see…" Ed nodded. He turned around and walked away to prepare his men. They would be leaving soon. 'Would I have become a slave had I been born in Europe and awakened my powers? Probably…'

The large group traveled back to the local base. The captain's men made repeated trips back and forth while carrying the cargo. Ed watched as Fang mingled with the local citizens and happily chatted with them. He watched as Dupe and the captain finished a conversation. Then he walked over and told Dupe to follow him.

The duo headed for the office and closed the door behind them. Ed frowned, "Tell me what the captain asked you."

"Oh?" Nick smiled. "Are you worried about something? Hmm… I wonder what we talked about…"

"Just tell me what you want for the information." He demanded.

"Relax! I was just joking! We're not business partners anymore, haha!" Nick laughed. "He just asked me about what happened in the base over the last few months. He also asked some generic questions about you as our leader. Nothing special."

"I see." Ed tapped his desk with his fingers repeatedly. "I have a mission for you. There will be a high chance of death, so you'll need to use one of your clones."

"Sounds fun! What is it?"

"There's a girl named Terra with the HQ. She seems to be a powerful esper that's been enslaved. When they prepare to leave in a month, we're going to rescue her."

"Wow!" Dupe exclaimed in shock. "To think you fell in love with a slave at first sight. To risk everything to save her! How romantic! Don't worry. I, your friend, shall assist you in saving her!"

"Funny. I'm not rescuing her out of love or kindness. She'll make for a useful pawn in the future. I'm also interested in finding out how Sinless controls their slaves. It may prove beneficial to us if we can copy them."

"Tsk. Lame." Dupe complained. "Where's the romance? The thrill? The heart pounding excitement of a youthful boy risking everything to save his princess from the vile clutches of the evil bad guys!"

Ed ignored him and began to work on some documents concerning the organization.

"Boring!!!" Nick got up and left.

…

Over the next several days, Captain Fang and his men moved all the cargo to the base. Much of it was food and water, which the base no longer needed desperately. Still, it made for useful storage. Terra worked to rebuild the wall in the western part of the city. The railroads Ed's men had constructed previously proved to be very useful for the project.

After a week had passed, the captain paid a visit to Ed's office. He sat down and smiled, "We need to have a talk."

"Sure. What do you need?" Ed questioned.

"Based on what I've seen, I believe you might be an ideal partner for Sinless HQ. We've been wanting to expand in the west, but we need local leaders to make the effort for it to happen."

"So, you want me to lead Sinless in the west?" He questioned.

"Not quite." The captain shook his head. "You're too young and inexperienced. We also don't know you well enough. However, we're willing to sign a contract with you. We've done several similar deals with other Sinless branches in America."

'Figures it wouldn't be that easy…' He frowned. "What are the terms?"

"We'll give you a period of three years. During those years you must expand your Reef Sinless branch into every city in Florida. You'll have no competition from other Sinless branches."

"I planned on doing that anyways." He nodded.

"Wait. There's more." The captain interrupted. "Sinless HQ will provide you with blueprints for creating mana ammunition. We won't give you the blueprints for exo suits or any of our other secret technology. However, you'll be able to purchase the gear at a discount from us."

"Isn't the ammunition just mana-powder inside bullet casings? Doesn't seem very useful to me." Ed began tapping his finger on the desk. "What's to stop me from just creating my own independent organization?"

"True." The captain nodded. "The benefits so far aren't very useful, but there are three major benefits we'll give you if you cooperate. First, we'll give you knowledge on raising mutants with mana-cores. This represents decades of our research and can provide you with a steady supply of mana-powder."

Ed's eyes lit up. 'That's exactly what I need! I already tried raising a few mutants in our livestock pen, but it proved to be difficult. They refused to eat the food we provided. Then they slowly starved to death or escaped!'

"Looks like that caught your interest." Fang grinned. "Second, we'll give you our technology for enslaving espers. It doesn't work on all espers, but it should be fine against the vast majority of them. Lastly, we'll give you a specialized mech we brought with us. You're free to do whatever you want with it."

"Hmm." He lowered his head in thought. 'These are good terms. I could enslave some local sinner groups and use them to do my bidding as I expand my influence beyond Reef city. Based on their exo suits, I'm assuming they've got better mechs than America as well. I wonder if it compares to the one I saw at the academy?'

"One more thing." Fang interrupted Ed's thoughts. "Naturally, we have some conditions for providing this technology. Most are reasonable, but there is one that most branches turn down. This is why we've had such a hard time expanding."

"Oh?" He questioned. "What are the conditions?"

"I can give you a book of all of them. Most are common sense. Such as don't enslave ordinary people or don't spread Sinless technology to others." The captain put on a serious face. "However, there is a single special rule. You must provide support to nearby areas when a nightmare attack occurs. I expect you to have your men on site and rescuing as many people as possible, all while spreading the good word of Sinless. You must also provide aid and relief after the disaster occurs."

"This!" Ed's eyes widened in shock. "That's quite the rule… How close does the affected area have to be to require my support?"

"For now, the southeastern United States should be fine. If you ever expand large enough, then the scope will naturally increase. All of our Sinless branches in the world must follow this rule. Will you agree to it?"

Ed grimaced. 'Damn. What a shitty rule… Still, I planned on facing the nightmares eventually anyways. It's too soon though. I'm not even a fly compared to a nightmare… I could disagree and start my own group, but then I lose the benefits. More importantly, I'd lose the Sinless brand. Everyone in the world already knows what it is.' He remained deep in thought for a few minutes before speaking, "Just to clarify. All I must do is provide emergency aid during and after the attack, right? No combat is ever expected?"

"Correct." Fang nodded. "While we do have some members in Europe who insist on fighting and slowing down the nightmare, most simply provide relief. You can't fight against a nightmare any more than you can fight a hurricane or a tsunami after all."

"Okay. I'll agree to the deal then." They shook hands.

Captain Fang pulled out some documents and handed them over. "These notes contain blueprints for mana ammunition. It's pretty much as simple as you think it is. The real valuable information is the esper enslavement information. I'll get my men started on putting together the special mech I promised as well. It should be ready close to when we're ready to leave."

"Alright. Sounds good. Let's make an official announcement together later. It'd be good for the base to know that I have the acknowledgement of the HQ."

"Okay. We'll do it tomorrow." The captain nodded. "Also, just know that if you ever break the contract, then we will hunt you down and kill you."

…

The next day. Captain Fang and Ed stood on stage. Ed put on his black and red mask for the first time. He spoke, "Today, I am officially the Reef Sinless leader. We are under some new regulations as a result. I will not force anyone to stay if they disagree with the new rules. From today forward, the mask will be our symbol. When we operate in other cities, we will use the mask for covert operations. We will use the masks to maintain our anonymity. This will allow us to live ordinary lives on the surface. Do not allow the government to know your identities. This way, we can expand without limit or interference!"

Fang gave Ed a questioning look and chuckled to himself. 'He needs to work on his speeches a bit more. That mask looks completely ridiculous! Haha! It might be a good idea though… The US government tends to interfere with the lives of our members in America. If it works, then maybe we'll expand the idea to other states.'

Fang took over after Ed finished his speech. "As official members of Sinless, you'll be required to assist during nightmare attacks. Of course, the type of assistance you will provide will vary based on your roles. Our headquarters will finish securing the city over the next few weeks. I hope to see a new flourishing branch the next time I visit." He rose a fist in the air. "Sinless will take back the world!"

"SINLESS WILL TAKE BACK THE WORLD!" Most of the audience cheered. Some looked uncomfortable with the new rules and maintained their silence.