CHAPTER 402: NINETY TWO.

Once she got her robot girlfriend to calm down, Suzuka sent her away so they could resume their discussion. Dante had long since returned his focus to the bionic arms, having picked one up and was analyzing it as if he understood what he was looking at.

He wasn’t entirely clueless, of course. He had done his due diligence and researched MBIs soon after his resident AI recommended getting one. Because of that, he could recognize some of the parts and what they did, even if he struggled more than he had anticipated.

’Is this... what you wanted?’ He asked internally.

[It has far surpassed my expectations.] Volcan replied. [Starting at A, the gap between grades widens significantly. To think a human would be capable of breaching it without any help...]

’That just goes to show how amazing she is.’ Dante grinned despite himself. ’Damn geniuses... I’m starting to understand what makes them so special...’

"Glad you liked it." Leaning on her workbench, the genius in question crossed her arms and heaved a long sigh. "Because I don’t know what in the world you intend to do with them."

Snapping out of it, Dante raised an eyebrow at the girl.

"What else am I going to do with an implant?"

The girl drew her brows together.

"You have some modules that work with it, then?" She said. "I already checked, and this design in particular doesn’t work with anything available out there. Unless you have other custom add-ons, then-"

"Don’t worry about that. You think I would’ve ordered something this specific if I didn’t have a use for it?"

"I just don’t want you to ask for a refund."

"Why would I?" Dante shifted his gaze back to the implant, but then he glanced at the blue-haired genius. "I might ask for a discount, though."

"In your dreams." Suzuka shot him down instantly, as if she had that reply loaded and ready. "You can’t even begin to imagine what it took to make these, and it’s only the first part of your commission. You think I would be in the mood to finish the rest when you’re asking for discounts from the start?"

"Right..." Dante was so captivated by the bionic arms that he forgot entirely that they were only one part of the set.

The torso was going to be next, and since it’s supposed to house his internal organs, or the bionics that would soon take their place, he wanted it to be of the same quality as the MBI arms, or even better. For that reason, he couldn’t skimp on it.

That said...

"By the way..." Putting the bionic arm down, Dante turned to the blonde-haired Gearhead with a half smile. "How much for-"

"Ninety-two." Suzuka cut him off, her expression blank. "Forty-six for each one."

"Forty-six... thousand?" Dante probed.

"Million."

"RCs?"

"Gold."

Dante’s perception accelerated, stretching the word to prevent him from hearing it. Sadly, that only caused the suffering to last longer.

"Ninety two... million..."

Light quickly faded from his eyes, and he almost collapsed to his knees. It should have been obvious that it would come to this. A pair of custom-made bionic arms wasn’t going to be cheap, especially ones good enough to earn an S grade from Volcan. One might even say that the price was on the cheaper side, considering it was a unique piece created by a freelance Gearhead who doesn’t belong to any corporations.

"Are you... Are you sure you don’t want to get married?"

Kizuna’s head snapped in his direction the moment he said the words, but she kept her distance this time.

"Even if we are married, I would still make you pay full price."

"That’s just... cruel."

His depressed state was quickly getting on Suzuka’s nerves, and that clearly showed in the shift in her expression and the annoyance in her eyes as she looked at him.

"Don’t tell me you don’t have the funds."

"I do," Dante replied. "It’s just... I’m not very liquid right now..."

He still had some of the Neorosteel shards stored, and more than half the payment he received from the heist, but that was it. He had yet to sell any of the relics he looted from Klaus’s collection, and the heroes and Sorcerers he collected were still collecting dust in his Storage. His plan to rob the gangsters and sell their bionics wasn’t going well, either. Not that it mattered. Selling cheap bionics wasn’t going to earn him that much, anyway.

’I need to find more shards...’

The first solution he came up with was still to rob the gangster blind. If he managed to find some other places where they might hide their safes, draining them wouldn’t be a problem. The gangsters were bound to notice eventually, but that was a problem whose solution could be found later.

"I think... might need some time... to put the cash together," Dante said eventually.

It was a little heartbreaking, learning that one’s order was ready to be picked up, but having no money to pay for it. The only thing Dante could do was bow his head and ask for understanding.

"That might be our best idea." Said Suzuka. "You got new implants installed only recently, both in the most delicate spots on your body."

"Yeah..."

It was such an obvious thing that one would think there was no need to mention it. Undergoing another surgery so soon after the last one was a considerable threat to his health. Not that Larry would agree to it, anyway.

"The next surgery you will be getting will have both of your arms removed." Said Suzuka. "You might need to sit down and think what that means before making up your mind."

"... I need to gather the cash." Sighing, Dante finally seemed to accept the conclusion. "Until then, the MBI remains uninstalled."

"You should consult your doctor on the matter. This stuff can’t be rushed, so it might be a while before you get these installed."

"Yeah..."