Watching the two clients leave, Hotaru asked curiously, "What's the mission? Do I need to recall Iruka and the others?"
Hayate smiled. "No, let them continue grinding bounty missions. I'm handling this one personally."
Hotaru was surprised. Since the Boss became an Elder, he hadn't taken a single field mission, leaving the legwork to the rest of them.
"How much?" she asked simply. To her, only a massive payout could motivate Shiranui Hayate to step out himself.
Hayate's smile widened. He held up a single finger and slowly uttered three words: "One hundred million."
The sheer weight of the number made Hotaru freeze. When John Wick's global bounty peaked at 15 million, it had triggered a frenzy of greed across the world. A hundred million? That was a price tag reserved for world-altering events.
"Are we... assassinating the President?" she whispered.
Hayate's expression turned solemn, and the air in the room grew heavy. Just as Hotaru thought he was about to nod, he spoke: "No."
She let out a visible sigh of relief. Even with the might of the High Table behind them, killing the President of the United States would turn them into global fugitives overnight.
Seeing her reaction, Hayate couldn't hide his amusement. "Get ready, Secretary Hotaru. Take all our liquid cash—minus what we need for daily operations—and dump it into the stock market. We're shorting Stark Industries."
This mission wasn't just about solving his tax problem; it was about generating the capital needed to stock up on Copper Coins for his system.
Hotaru didn't question the logic. She confirmed the order and immediately set the plan in motion. Ninety million dollars poured into the market against a giant like Stark Industries was a bold move, but in the face of a multi-billion dollar conglomerate, it was still small enough to avoid major scrutiny.
By afternoon, Happy Hogan returned with a small case.
"Mr. Hayate, here is what you requested."
Inside the case sat a watch and a small lock of hair. Hayate nodded in satisfaction. "This is perfect. With these, finding Tony Stark won't be an issue at all."
Pepper Potts had clearly been thorough; not only had she sent Tony's personal accessory, but she had even harvested hair samples from his bed.
"Tony's life is in your hands, Mr. Hayate," Happy said, his voice lighter with hope.
"Don't worry. Wait for my good news."
Once Happy left, Hayate had Hotaru book the fastest flight to Afghanistan. He tucked the case into his storage space and prepared for departure.
The Next Day.
Stepping out of the airport in Afghanistan, Hayate was immediately met by the blistering sun and the faint, lingering scent of gunpowder in the air.
Even in this war-torn region, the High Table had its fingers. A car arranged by Hotaru through the Table's network was waiting. Hayate got in and directed the driver to the site of the ambush.
Meanwhile, in a hidden cave deep in the Afghan desert, Tony Stark stared at the glowing, miniature Ark Reactor in his hands.
Beside him, Yinsen remarked, "That doesn't look like a Jericho missile."
"That's because it's a miniature Ark Reactor," Tony replied without looking up. "I have a big one at home powering my factory. This should be enough to keep the shrapnel away from my heart."
"What's the power output?" Yinsen asked, intrigued.
"If my math is right—and it usually is—it's three gigajoules per second."
Yinsen's eyes widened. "That's enough to run your heart for a thousand years."
"Or power something big for about fifteen minutes," Tony added, pulling out a set of translucent blueprints. "This is our ticket out of here."
Yinsen looked at the drawings, confused. "What is it?"
Tony rearranged the sheets, overlaying them until a silhouette emerged. A suit of iron armor took shape before their eyes.
"My God," Yinsen whispered. "It's magnificent."
Across the vast, sandy mountain range, a military-grade armored vehicle sped along the dirt tracks. Inside, Shiranui Hayate had his eyes closed, his consciousness deep within the System Space.
System, Sign-in.
Ding! Sign-in successful. Reward: One Ninjutsu Secret Scroll.
Exiting the sign-in page, he opened the Summoning tab. For this rescue, he planned to deploy the Blue Snake. From his memories, the Ten Rings terrorists guarding the cave were equipped with heavy weaponry—machine guns, mortars, and stockpiles of munitions.
With its massive size and nearly indestructible scales, the Blue Snake would be the perfect tool to sweep the enemy camp.
The level 0 Blue Snake currently required 200 Reputation and 20,000 Copper per level. Hayate checked his reserves: 3.52 million Copper and 14,096 Reputation.
I hope this is enough to beef him up, Hayate thought.
After burning through all his Reputation and 3.02 million Copper, the Blue Snake reached Level 20. Its combat power and defense had surged significantly, though it was still a far cry from the level 50 cap.
The vehicle reached the ambush site. Since two months had passed, the military cordons were gone.
Hayate stepped out into the dust and looked at the driver. "You can head back. If I need a pickup, I'll call you via satellite phone."