[From the sounds of it, we're going to have to divide and conquer,] Hurricroak noted as she listened in on the plans being cooked up by Zhen Liu and the others. [Does that mean the usual teams?]

[Probably,] Nepherage answered. [We know how to best cover each other's weaknesses, and we don't have to worry about being outmatched for obvious reasons.]

[True.]

[Wait...isn't that actually a false observation, though?] Corpse Doll pointed out.

[What do you mean?]

[I mean...caretaker mentioned that a bunch of our enemies were running around Rainbowden doing their own things, right?]

[Yeah...]

[Doesn't that mean there are warriors in this place that can actually match up with us? Hell, might even beat us if things go terribly wrong in every conceivable way?]

[...]

[...]

[Huh...you are...getting...smarter.]

[Thanks; that was actually all PD's perspective though.]

[It's not wrong.]

[Be that as it may, blind confidence and the assurance that we could probably deal with whatever comes out way with inhibited violence

...

After sharing with one another that possible bit of overlap, the group eventually came to a consensus on their overall plans.

Needless to say, this was going to involve them splitting up.

First, they were going to make use of the local auction houses for some of easy cash, possible information-gathering points, and securing goods for their own purposes.

The auction houses in Rainbowden were weird in the sense that there were two of them: one for locals and one for foreigners.

In the local house, no complete products were ever sold there. Instead, only rare materials were ever sold in their raw state. Then again, that was probably the natural result of having a town where most of the working population were some form of artisan/craftsmen.

Zhen Liu and his friends had brought some goodies from the [Mines of Malevolence] and from their family business back in Stampeding Bison so they could easily sell this stuff and make a lot of money at once... hopefully.

The team that was going to be handling this questionable practice of commerce consisted of Alicia, Harriet, Zhen Xing, Zhen Tai, and Axer.

As the heir to her own auction house and mercantile empire, Alicia was wise to the tricks that many auctioneers take when trying to push products and knew better than most when it came to making sure she got a fair price for everything they sold or bought.

Harriet, Zhen Tai, and Zhen Xing were all scions to prominent clans, more specifically, young scions. They were the perfect target for arrogant buyers to try and bully and, in turn, were the perfect distraction from the real force behind them.

As for Axer, he was native and had a local reputation that could help justify and explain their appearance.

After all, people were less likely to care about a known figure's friends than they would about absolute strangers showing up out of nowhere.

...

"Are you sure people would be willing to buy cursed gold?" Zhen Xing asked. "This stuff kept trying to curse us all the way here from the mines."

"Oh, people buy all sorts of creepy and cursed stuff from the underground auction all the time," Axer assured his foreign friends. "Hell, my grandpa once bought a special alloy that could only be harvested from the stomach of a juvenile aether beast known as a Sapphire Spark Whale."

"Aren't... aren't those extinct?"

"Apparently not."

"Okay..."

"Oh it has been a while since I've stepped into an auction house," Alicia said with glee. "I wonder if I can get something to upgrade Sprocket with too..."

...

The second group was going to be simply hoofing the regular city streets, shopping, and talking with the locals about any weird rumblings.

Consisting of Bellona, Alicia, Taurna, Leona, Antonio, and Olstenna, they were more than capable of handling any situation that could pop up...ideally.

...

"So you were former slaves of the [Mines of Malevolence] until darling over there showed up and led a revolution from the shadows?" Bellona asked Taurna and Leona. "As well, he used his abilities to bring back your brothers as Kaijin?"

"More or less in that order, yes," Taurna nodded.

"We had no idea what he looked like until the very end, though," Leona added. "It was mildly jarring seeing him go from a six-foot-something slab of meat, metal, and [Chaos] into a fluffy and adorable sheepdog of a man. I mean..."

"Oh, yeah, he has that effect on people," Bellona admitted. "It's even funnier to me that he isn't even aware that he does that."

"I got that feeling..."

While the girls were talking, Antonio and Olstenna were off to the side watching them gab like they were having tea and not planning to probably kick up a whole lot of shit.

^Hey, Olstenna?^

^Yeah?^

^You've been around Zhen Liu and [Chaos] as a whole longer than I have, right? Does that mean you can sense it?^

^Yeah...^

^So, I'm not the only one sensing all of the ambient [Chaos] since we've entered this city, right?^

...

The last group, consisting of Zhen Liu, Rianna, Jinju Ren, Lythero, and Zhong Wei, were going to be trying their hands in poking around the auction house dedicated to visitors.

These were the places where the completed products of artisans were finally sold to prospective buyers.

From powerful aether treasures to potent aether medicines, this was the moment artisans from all walks of life either finally made their big break or learned on a grand stage that their craft was absolute shit.

Either way, it was the perfect place for a foreign princess, her mentor, and her exotic band of warriors to make an appearance.

...

"Wait a minute, didn't you make Lythero your 'captain' in this little play of ours?" Zhen Liu asked. "Shouldn't he be the one tagging along for this?"

When Zhen Liu went over the details, he noted that Lythero wasn't actually going to be present for the social function of the auction for today. He was only going to be present at the actual event.

"Maybe," Jinju Ren admitted before obviously sliding up to Zhen Liu and placing her arm around him in a flirtatious manner. "But then I wouldn't be able to tease him while in a private audience box at the auction house."

"Princess, please keep your flirtatious actions to a minimum when in front of people," Zhong Wei chided his technical student.

"Oh hush, you old hermit," Jinju Ren retorted. "Besides, someone has to teach Rianna how to properly flirt since Jin Fang is busy with her own pilgrimage."

"I know how to flirt," Rianna defended herself. "It's just that it requires Xiao Liu to tie me up first."1

"Why do I keep forgetting you learned social cues from giant insects and spiders?"

"I don't know," Rianna shrugged. "Anyways, are you sure we're going to run into those Beautiful Marionette guys there? I thought their works would be involved in an underground auction."

"Hey, it's a worth a shot," Zhen Liu shrugged. "A lot of underground groups have to have some public face in order to obfuscate their darker activities."

"I can actually confirm that," Jinju Ren added. "I know some of my half-brothers work with some drug peddlers."

"Pardon?"

...

Of course, aside from these obvious groups of mortal warriors, there was another group that was going to be working in the shadows, checking out things in the underground, and taking all three.

Zhen Liu's Kaijin.

And out of everyone in the room, they were the most excited.

After all, it's been awhile since they got to stretch their legs in a proper city and not a boom town, or an underground citadel or a shitty mine.

...

[So you think the maestro will let us pretend to be human while we're here or do you think we're going to have to maintain our shrink-dink forms the whole time?] Hurricroak asked her compatriots. [I have been meaning to try out a new look. Maybe go more curvaceous since even the protos are built like bombshells.]

[Wait, PD, are we actually explosive?]

[I don't think that's what that means, CD.]

[Oh hush, Hurricroak,] Nepherage chided. [Whatever our lord decrees we go about our task, we follow it to the letter. Just like how we always work.]

[Fine, fine,] Hurricroak complained while sticking out her tongue in distaste.

[I am little sad that the Gallop Brothers won't be joining us for this particular outing though. I imagine they would've gotten a kick out of doing what we do.]

[I'm sure... they're fine...] Frosttusk rumbled. [They're...catching...up...on...lost time...]

[Meh, I can't imagine worrying about something like that,] Razorstella retorted. [Then again, I didn't really have memories until the director brought me to life as proto-kaijin. Actually, Screamira, Springerdermain. Do you two have any memories prior to being made into Kaijin?]

[Vaguely,] Springerdermain answered first. [I just remembered being a jumpy brat until my arms got severed. That fucking sucked.]

[Fair.]

[I am not entirely sure to be honest,] Screamira answered next. [I think it's because I was a zakos made from corpse parts, but I can vaguely remember things from someone else's perspective.]

[Really? Like what?]

[Well...I'm fairly certain my bones were originally sourced from a lady of the night?]

[Huh...]

This is a reference of an IRL spider.