"I also didn’t expect him to die".

Leon looked at the Lt. Colonel, then he grinned. "I promised you that I’ll help you kill him, right? I’m not fond of breaking promises after making them".

Lt. Colonel Umar Farouq looked at him. "I see".

"So, what do you think?" Leon grinned again. "You gave a test and I’ve proven myself, are you going to join me to help in my quest to kill 2 D Rank Ascended now, including Bill Zefyr?"

The Lt. Colonel stared at him calmly for a few seconds, then he nodded. "Yeah, yeah I think I’m in".

"Great". Leon smiled.

Lt. Colonel Umar Farouq looked at Daren and Talia who were still receiving treatment for a few seconds, then without looking at Leon he asked. "In those final moments when the nuke’s shockwave almost overwhelmed us, what were you thinking?"

Leon blinked.

Umar looked at Leon again. "Were you scared? Maybe scared of dying? Did you feel any regret for pushing Dhruv too far?"

"Scared?" Leon chuckled. "I was under too much pressure in that moment to even be scared, I was just desperate to persevere and escape".

"I simply can’t afford to die now, I have too many things to accomplish so in that moment, I didn’t really feel any fear".

"But I did feel a bit of regret for pushing him too far". He smiled cheekily.

Lt. Colonel Umar Farouq quietly stared at the Mechanist for a few seconds. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but then he closed it back.

Noticing this, Leon chuckled. "Come on man, if you want to praise me, just spill it out".

The Lt. Colonel’s lips twitched.

In the end, he asked. "What of the bounty?"

"Eh? Bounty?" Leon was surprised, then his eyes widened. "You really said he had a bounty on his head, I almost forgot. What was it again?"

The Lt. Colonel was speechless. "Back in the battlefield, you were so stubborn in hunting and killing him by all means, you’re telling me you did all that without the bounty in mind motivating you?"

His eyes twinkled. "You’re different". He said sincerely.

Leon didn’t care about that as he asked instead. "Tell me, tell me, what is his bounty again?"

Umar’s eyelids twitched slightly, then he answered.

"270 million Neo Credits".

"..."

"..."

"....."

For more than 2 minutes after hearing that figure, Leon simply looked at the Lt. Colonel with his mouth opened wide in shock.

Since awakening in this world and becoming a Mechanist, Leon had earned a lot of money, he had spent more, and borrowed even more.

Yet these figures have not climbed above 50 million Neo Credits yet.

Heck, they haven’t even crossed 20 million Neo Credits, and yet he just got access to a bounty of 270 million Neo Credits?!

Leon looked at the Lt. Colonel with feverish eyes as he grabbed his arms excitedly. "Are all terrorists so expensive??? DAMN!"

"Even after I share the bounty with you 50/50, that’s still 135 million f*cking Neo Credits for me! Damn! I’ve never seen so much money before!"

The commotion that Leon was causing made a few of the Freegrid soldiers in the military base to look at them but Leon no longer cared.

Umar looked at him. "You killed Dhruv yourself, I didn’t do much," he sighed. "This is a man that I’ve been hunting for decades without much success, and yet you killed him within just 1 day of meeting him".

He sighed again. "I don’t know if you’re just a freak among D Rank Ascended or I’ve been overestimating myself all along. So no, I can’t claim to have taken part in killing him".

"You did most of the work, and when the nuke came, you singlehandedly took me to safety so in the grand scheme of things, I’m the one owing you a favor". He forced a smile.

Leon was surprised. "But we fought him together..."

Umar shook his head. "Dhruv is not someone that can be killed just with numbers, his death is not a fluke or a mistake either, he died simply because of your stubbornness and brilliance. My morals can’t allow me share such a bounty when I know you did everything".

Leon was stunned. ’What is this? Who even rejects free money?’

Once again, he got a new and updated personality profile of his ally.

In the end, he decided. "If you’re so reluctant to share it 50/50, then let’s share it like this. 50 for me, while you, Daren, and Talia share the remaining 50%".

"That’s too high," Umar shook his head. "Take 170 million Neo Credits and if you’re willing, the 3 of us will share the remaining 100 million Neo Credits".

Again, Leon was stunned. ’People with this much restraint and integrity are actually still alive?’

Well, he agreed.

Whether it was 170 or 100 million Neo Credits, that was still the most money that he had ever seen since awakening in this world.

And with such money, he would no longer be in debt.

He would finally have the capital that he needed to embark on all his ambitious construction projects.

Leon smiled. ’Nuke or no nuke, I guess hunting Dhruv Laden and killing him was the right decision afterall’.

He looked into the distance at the constant blossoming explosions where the Freegrid Army clashed with the Neon Beasts at the containment zone.

He thought. ’I just have to make sure that the consequences of my actions don’t affect innocent people’.

Lt. Colonel Umar Farouq looked at him one last time. "With my channels, I should be able to get the bounty easily in at most 5 days or a week".

"With my cut of the money, I’ll settle all the agency and processing bills".

Leon wanted to protest that but the Lt. Colonel didn’t even let him.

In the end, after that, Umar bid them farewell and finally left Canyon Hub, returning to his secret hideout in the wasteland.

His hideout was far away from the region where the nuke affected, but the Neon Beast disaster after was potentially going to affect him.

He would deal with it in his own way.

As for Leon, after the Lt. Colonel left, he also left with the Bulwark MK.II Titan Frame as he went to reinforce Colonel Alphonse to contain the Neon Beasts that were being born and were replicating with the nuclear radiation as fuel.

...

A few minutes later after Leon told them the truth that they were both going to get a few million Neo Credits soon from Dhruv Laden’s bounty, Daren and Talia stared at each other with looks of disbelief on their faces.

"What???"