CHAPTER 286: CHAPTER 286 SCHEMES IN MOTION

A bald middle-aged man that was neither tall nor short sat in the booth of an empty bar, save for the person sitting across from him.

Normally, he wore a perpetual grin on his face that never truly conveyed his emotions, but right now, his expression had twisted into a frown, and he was clearly displeased.

"Looks like your scheme went down in flames this time, Adder." The alluring blonde-haired woman sitting across from him said. Seemingly enjoying his current state.

"Yes, this was unfortunate, to say the least. Even if the plan failed, I did not expect to lose all of my pawns. And it seems I’m going to have to sacrifice even more pieces just to stay in the game. If only we we’re closer to my base, I could have Camila cover some things up and minimize the damage."

Staring into the glass filed with a dark green liquid in front of him, Adder contemplated why his scheme to have Nianni Taador abducted failed so miserably.

Certainly, it had been a risky endeavor. More so than Adder would have normally found acceptable.

Still, once he had learned that the most famous singer in the Dramid Alliance had psychic abilities that could connect to millions of people at once, he felt that he needed to have her working under him. Whatever it took.

"I’m not so sure why you look so pleased with my failure here, Delilah. You invested quite a bit into this job as well." Adder said, squinting his eyes and trying to understand his temporary partner’s intentions.

The two of them were certainly cut from the same cloth.

Both typically hid their true feelings and were the types to push and prod people in order to manipulate them.

Normally, they operated in different parts of the Dramid Alliance from each other, working to further their own aims, and the aims of the organization that they were a part of .

"True, but I invested far less in this than you. All I did was use my connections to help smuggle in weapons and equipment for your teams and set up a few fake incidents elsewhere to slow the Alliance Police’s response. I’m only out a little bit of capital. Unlike you, all of my pawns in this system are still in play."

Delilah wore a self-satisfied smile as she brought her own, colorful drink to her lips and took a sip.

Adder could tell that she was trying to get on his nerves, since he was exactly the same kind of person.

He was already showing more emotion than he normally would, so he held back against her provocations.

There was much that he had lost in during the failure to kidnap Nianni, but Adder still had more plans in the works.

"I think that our little collaboration her has made me appreciate working with Camila and Iniquus a bit more. Those two are much easier to get along with than you." Adder said, wearing his signature grin once again.

"Oh, what I believe you meant to say is that they are easier to manipulate. Although, in Iniquus’ case, I suppose it’s was now. Considering what happened to him."

Internally, Adder agreed with Delilah’s assessment.

Iniquus had been an ambitious fool in his eyes. Pushing himself beyond his means in a bid to prove himself worthy of the position he had inherited from his father.

As for Camila, she was serious to a fault. So long as it pertained to their mission, Adder could get her to do just about anything with the right prodding.

"Though, I suppose that it might be time for me to become more active in certain matters." Adder said, pulling up several imagines and reports on a tablet sitting in front of him.

He was not in the Dramid System just because of the plan he had spearheaded to abduct Nianni Taador.

Another of his operations had recently come under fire and had some rats snooping around where they should not have.

This was one he could not allow to be exposed or fail, since it was where a majority of his funds came from.

"Oh, was he involved in this as well? That young man certainly gets around." Delilah said, recognizing the person in one of the photos Adder had pulled up.

"Yes, he seems to have been the reason that our little joint operation failed. I don’t know if he is actively searching us out, or if it’s sheer dumb luck that he keeps getting in the way. Either way, I’ve decided to no longer disregard him."

"Well, good luck with that. I don’t want to have anything to do with him again. He’s more trouble than he’s worth."

"Now there’s a surprise. I didn’t know that you had any run-ins with Avery Asteria. It seems that he’s become a thorn in the side of the entire organization." Adder said with a snicker.

"Hardly. He’s a minor annoyance at best. My plans within the Odium Syndicate got set back a bit because of him, but it’s of little matter now. To try and regain their footing, those idiots in the Zatis Consortium have been funneling more money into their pet drug dealing organization. My position there has been on the rise as of late, so I’m siphoning off a little more for myself than I was getting before."

Delilah looked pleased by how well things were going for herself, but Adder still did not know why she was so wary of a mere mercenary that had just gotten lucky a few times.

Naturally, he asked her about it, and she rolled her eyes in disinterest.

"Let’s just say that he’s like some type of unkillable pest. The Odium Syndicate threw a lot at him to try and eliminate a specific member of his team. Yet, all of their assassination attempts failed spectacularly. Then I had a go at it. I managed to incite another mercenary group to attack him, and they were crushed despite having twenty times the number of vessels. From what I’ve gathered, it’s just not worth the effort to go after him." Delilah said, showing absolutely no interest in the matter.

At first this only made Adder feel more certain that he needed to eliminate Avery and his team sooner rather than later.

They had been getting involved in matters pertaining to the organization a bit too much. They were slowly graduating from minor annoyance to legitimate threat.

However, being someone with the same inclinations as Deliliah, Adder quickly caught on that she was attempting to goad him.

The overarching group that they worked for might have been the same, but they operated in vastly different areas and had different goals.

If one of them were to completely fail, it would hardly affect the other.

"You’re right. Perhaps he is a bit more dangerous than I realized. I was getting a bit hasty there. I’ll just cut my loses and take a page out of your book." Adder said, leaning back in his seat and slowly sipping his drink as he watched Deliah’s reaction.

She did her best to hide it, but, a slight crack formed in her smile. Obviously, she knew that he plan to bait Adder into more reckless action had failed.

"I see, that’s a shame. But what are you planning on doing then?"

"Well, I’m not sure what they’re up to, but those guys from the Nord Quadrant seem to be up to something here as well. They’ve got some of their own agents planted in this competition as well. I think that I’ll sell off a crumbling venture to them and pass the buck of dealing with those mercenaries to them." Adder said, his expression one of a thoroughly satisfied schemer that had just come up with a good idea.

"Oh, now that is interesting. I’m not a big fan of them either, so how about I help you out." Deliah said, looking interested in Adder’s new plan.

Though what she had really wanted was to see him dancing in the palm of her hands, she was flexible enough to switch her objectives for now. Plus, she figured that it would be fun to see what chaos they might be able to create.

"Very well, I’ll take you up on the offer. Those muscleheads will probably be more likely to bite if I have you helping me out."

"Of course, but I am expecting a cut of the proceeds as well. I’ll make sure you get a good deal on those ventures you’re offloading." Delilah said, rubbing her hands together in an exaggerated manner like a greedy merchant.

Adder held in a sigh, since he knew that she hardly cared about the money. What she really wanted was some entertaining mayhem to watch.

"Fine, I’ll need to fine some more way to increase my finances later. This will be a win-win for me anyway. Either we get rid of some competition, or a prolific pest."