When I awoke, it was well past noon, but thankfully, I had fulfilled the terms of my curse, so I awoke without the crippling exhaustion.
But Anby wasn't sitting around in her room watching me, thankfully... It would have been weird to wake up after a dream of a big titty weirdo snake thiren licking ranch dressing off my body only to have Anby's eye's lasered on my form.
And as I came out into the living room. Anby perked up and looked away from her phone, along with Billy who waved at me with a cheer as he said excitedly. "Jake, you are alive! We were actually getting worried with how long you were asleep haha."
I slowly nodded as I made my way over to the coffee pot... I took a sip, only to grimace as the coffee was made rather poorly, so I callously poured out the lukewarm coffee to make a new pot. As my cooking perk would not only make it taste much better.
But it would also give it a shareable buff as well!
"Yeah... If I get interrupted sleep I will be utterly useless. Anyway, where is Nicole?" I asked before I splashed some water on my face to wake up fully.
"Nicole went to go meet with a trusted friend to find out who... Molested you. Are you, alright, Jake?" Anby asked with a slight halter to her words. Although Anby was kind and on the logical side, she wasn't the best with emotions after all.
I exhaled heavily before I said frankly with a wry smile. "I mean... I am very weirded out. But am I utterly traumatized by the thought of another woman hugging me now or something? Nah, I think I am fine."
Then I paused before I said with an eye twitch. "I take that back... I might be traumatized when it comes to the idea of licking my own fingers after eating cheese-dusted snacks."
The words snacks reminded me then! I whirled around and opened the fridge, my face twisted in annoyance as Nicole was right! That fucking greedy snake thiren stole most of the damned ramen I made!
Not only did the bitch steal my meal-prepped food for the week. But she also stole my damned Tupperware, which was expensive!
"I am going to... Beat that snake thiren with a hammer." I said with a facial twitch as I was actually about to say I was going to paddle her ass to teach her a damned lesson.
But with how she left dick sucking rings on my fingers from her licking and sucking across my body. A spanking may just be a reward for a deviant like her!
My thoughts on the cruelty of the world and decay of societies morality were interupted as Anby said quietly. "Jake, do you need time to get your head on straight? Or do you wanna talk in private?"
I gave Anby a weird look before I shook my head and looked at Billy, before I said bluntly. "Anby, Billy, we got a commission to kill some ethereals? I am weirded out, but as I said. I am not traumatized or whatever by some weirdo."
Anby gave me a searching look while Billy coughed and said hurriedly. "Uhh just give me a minute Jake. I need to ask Nicole to snag us a commission first unless you want to find one on the Interknot yourself?"
I tsked before I took a small cup of rich hot coffee, and with an inhale of that Tokyo Ghoul tier coffee perfection. I felt my spirits lift and I waved a hand and said with a small smile.
"Go ahead and shoot a text to Nicole. I am sure her hunt for whoever broke into her isn't going to be cheap. So it's best we get started in making some money."
As Anby went to text Nicole my request for some work. Preferably, work that would allow me to put some ethereal's into the dirt. I walked over to Billy and sitting next to my buddy I said. "Know where we can get some scrap electronics and materials? I think it's time I invested in making some security for here."
And my face twitched as Billy said frankly. "Uhh yeah, anything out in the Outer Rim is free game basically. But if you draw noticably more power to this old warehouse, it's gonna get Nicole in trouble. As we aren't supposed to be living here."
"That... Is fair." I said with a sigh.
Maybe I should try to offload the platinum I got from my last job so we could get a better place?'
But while Nicole was money-obsessed, two-faced, and utterly shameless. She treated her crew like family and I wasn't sure if she would accept such 'charity'
And after a moment of thought I said. "Hold on a minute Billy I got an idea."
I went over to my bag, and I took out one of the large rebar-looking platinum bars that I had transmuted from nickel and offered the heavy bar of metal to the confused form of Billy.
"Billy, Anby. Think Nicole would accept some precious metals I transmuted so we could buy a better place? Or would that like, hurt her pride?"
And my face twitched as Anby said with zero hesitation. "Nicole once said this. 'Pride? What's that? Can I eat it? Does it keep the lights on and Billy's expensive guns full of ammo?"
Whelp, Anby woudn't lie to me. So with a shrug, I pointed at the long sports bag and said flatly. "There is over fifty pounds of platinum in that bag. I suggest we liquidate it, and buy some property outside of New Eridu, where we can actually have some land and be able to fence it in and protect it."
After all, I did have a power for 'Implant' tinkering as well as Star Wars technology. If I wanted to actually use that tech, I needed space to make my own machines and such.
Also I was curious. When I managed to get a W-Engine later today. If I could figure out that Ether resonance technology. And then enhance some Cyberpunk implant's with ether enhancements.
Because if I could sync up something like Nicole's anomaly projectile launch system to a projectile launch system, I could implant it into my arm? Or lightning speed ether enhancements to a Sandevistan/Kerenzikov.
And most importantly... I wanted to find out if I could make an implant that could digest/absorb the ether energy built up inside people to allow them to withstand Hollow's and Ether energy. If I could make something like that. I would be given an honorary Void Hunter title!
Anby had already hefted up the large sports bag filled with precious metals and asked curiously but not with any malice. "Why didn't you tell us about the metal last night, Jake?"
I coughed and said a bit sheepishly. "I wanted it to be a surprise... I wanted to make Nicole happy when we went to buy my W-Engine and I could just slam down a couple bar's of metal to pay for it instead of her money."
There was a moment of silence before Billy laughed hard with him holding his chest as he cackled out. "Hahaha! That would have been a killer move on Nicole haha!"
My lips twitched as Anby blinked and then actually gave me a thumbs up as she said in some appreciation. "Powerful move indeed."
With that I cleared my throat as I took a drink of my delicious coffee that healed my soul. And then I said helplessly. "Alright, alright. Let's go sell off this platinum first. It's better for you guys to come with anyway. Running around with several million in dennies is just asking for trouble."