12 Rhodes Island

"Clukay, wake up!" In the midst of a peaceful dream about swimming in a sea of LMD, I was unfortunately awoken by the feeling of something cold and wet on my face.

"Rimuru… *Achoo* did you really need to pour water on my face?" I asked as I rubbed my nose. The cold morning breeze made me want to enact the caterpillar manoeuvre with the blanket, but unfortunately, my face and pillow were wet.

"Our appointment with Rhodes Island is in an hour. I tried to wake you up normally, but I had to resort to this because you were too deep in your sleep," Rimuru said. This reminds me of what the Dokutah said yesterday about a meeting. Rhodes Island had enough leverage to sway the LGD, so a contract with them would naturally give us jurisdiction to finish off Reunion in the Lungmen slums.

Knowing the System, I had a feeling that it wasn't going to be a simple cleanup of Reunion soldiers in the slum. There was something bigger and much more difficult ahead of us.

"We've got 17 days to complete the quest. If we join Rhodes Island, then maybe we could ask for their help?" I muttered as I changed into my combat uniform after I had hushed Rimuru out of my tent. I haven't had the chance to wear something different for the past few days, but at least I was able to shower.

"Alright, let's steal some ammo before we leave," I sneakily took a few magazines near my tent and rushed out to catch up with the other groupchat members, who were waiting at the entrance.

"Oh, hey, Amiya and Dokutah," I greeted as I saw the two discussing something with Zhongli. They waved back at me, with Amiya trying her hardest to bring out a smile.

"Hey, Clukay. You'll be joining us on our way to the landship. Make sure to stick to us so you don't get lost," Amiya said as she opened the door to a Rhodes Island marked armour car. This was a bigshot company, for sure.

On the way to Rhodes Island, we discussed several miscellaneous things like food. I also made friends with Bob, the driver, who agreed with me on the fact that crustless pizza was better.

A/N: It's true Crustless > Crust.

Before long, we arrived at a massive chunk of moving metal outside of Lungmen. This was the epitome of Rhodes Island's status, the landship.

The armoured convoy made its way into the landship after passing a guard checkpoint at the entrance. They had a car park in the landship, which was pretty surprising for a pharmaceutical company.

After we got off, we were escorted by Amiya onto the top floor. Along the way, I saw at least a hundred individuals, not in the standard Rhodes Island uniform, which meant they held pretty important roles. I was in awe at the size of the PHARMACEUTICAL company.

"This must've cost trillions of LMD," I muttered with a faint heart.

"We're here," Amiya said as she opened the door to a room with the sign 'Director's Office,' above it. I quickly snapped back to reality and prepared myself for some negotiations. I was sure that this meeting was an attempt to employ us, likely from Amiya's recommendation.

The room was simplistic, with a few bookshelves to the side, two sofas and a desk in the middle, and an office desk facing the door. Sat on the office desk as an intimidating green-haired cat girl, who I presumed was Kal'tsit.

"Take a seat. I've heard many things about your group," Kal'tsit said, prompting us to take a seat on the sofas. Amiya and the Dokutah walked towards Kal'tsit and stood behind her like security guards. This was the Rhodes Island leadership.

"You are all quite peculiar. You appeared out of nowhere with powerful arts, aiding us against Reunion after being detained by the LGD. I could only find records about one of you, the amnesiac leader of the group," Kal'tsit said in a mysterious tone, causing us to tense up. There was a moment of silence before she stood up with some papers and laid them on the table before us.

"Interesting," Zhongli murmured as he sipped his tea. Now isn't the time for tea, Zhongli!

"The oldest records were from a Laterano orphanage. Found on the streets at the age of five with no parents, you attended the same school as Mostima and Exusiai. After an unknown incident, you were infected and banished from Laterano. The only other mention of you was from Rhine Lab in Columbia, where you worked for three years before mysteriously disappearing again until last year when you were approved for Lungmen residency." Kal'tsit slowly laid out the documents of my past before me. I was both fearful of Rhodes Island's capabilities and curious about my past.

"I apologise for searching your past, but considering your amnesia, this should be useful to you. I hope this can be a sign of our future cooperation," Kal'tsit said, sensing the hostility and wariness of the other groupchat members. It seems she already knows why we're here.

"Thank you. To give something like this for free, surely it would've been better to use it as leverage for negotiations," I said as I looked at the stack of papers laid out on the table.

"It wasn't difficult to find these documents. You would've been able to find them by yourself anyways. This is just a sign of goodwill," Kal'tsit replied. She definitely anticipated us to accept recruitment into Rhodes Island. Although this was a nice gift, I could sense that she was trying to lower my guard and tolerance for negotiations.

"How about we skip formalities and move on to negotiations?" I asked with a professional smile. I could feel my instincts take over as I continued to talk to Kal'tsit.

"I don't mind. Here is a draft of the contract I made earlier. If you want any adjustments, just tell me," Kal'tsit said as she handed another stack of papers to me. Seeing that there were four copies, I handed the other copies to the other groupchat members.

The terms of the contract were simple, without any hidden clauses. We were to be employed at Rhodes Island for three years as an Operator, with a weekly salary of 50,000 LMD. We were required to do combat and administrative tasks and respond to any requests within a week. There was also an NDA on all Rhodes Island technologies, operations and operators. Additionally, we would have three weeks of permitted leave biannually outside of holidays.

"These are quite generous terms, Doctor Kal'tsit," I said as I looked at the contract terms. It was surprisingly generous, but there was a problem.

"However, as you might know, we've decided to open our own company recently," I said as I looked at Kal'tsit, who calmly sipped her coffee. Is this the female version of Zhongli?

"We would like to turn this from a full-time employment contract to a deal between companies," Zhongli said as he laid the contract down on the table. Zhongli was the most adult-like here, so I decided to leave the rest of the negotiations to him.

"Rather than paying us weekly, we would like to make it into commissions. Rhodes Island can commission employees from our company to do reasonable jobs for the next three years. In exchange, we are allowed to reject any jobs with reasonable cause, and we will get paid per commission completed," Zhongli added, taking a sip of his tea as Kal'tsit sipped her coffee. Was this a sipping competition?

"We have many contracts similar to the one you're proposing. However, I would like to request a special observation of your friend, Rimuru's healing arts. We will also agree to a two-way NDA agreement," Kal'tsit said with slanted eyes. I could sense that this could be a deal-breaker, likely being the main goal of Kal'tsit.

"I don't mind," Rimuru spoke up. With the agreement of the subject of the conversation itself, there was no need to fight any longer.

The deal was secured.

"The new contract will be ready tomorrow. Please stay the night here at the landship. Amiya and Dokutah, stay behind. I'll call someone to escort our guests to their rooms." Kal'tsit said as she pulled out her phone to ring up someone.

A minute later, the door was opened to reveal a certain redhead. Exusiai was working for Penguin Logistics, which was likely partnered with Rhodes Island like us.

"Heyo! I didn't know you were here, Clukay and co! I'll show you guys around the landship, let's go!" Exusiai excitedly said as she dragged me by the hand out of the room. The other groupchat members also followed along with a wry smile.

"Were you also contracted by Rhodes Island? If so, you chose the right bet. They'll help you with your Oripathy, and they're pretty chill as well," Exusiai said as we waited for the elevator. This bundle of energy was going to be a pain; I could feel it.

"First, we've got the cafeteria…" Exusiai went off, introducing the various facilities of Rhodes Island. I just followed Exusiai around with the others.

After an hour, the tour ended back at the cafeteria, which reminded me of the fact that I didn't have breakfast due to oversleeping.

"Let's get something for you guys to eat. I'd recommend the apple pie. It's super good!" Exusiai excitedly introduced us as we walked towards the line at the cafeteria. I could sense that everyone else on Rhodes Island was used to Exusiai's energy and love of apple pie.

"Sure, I guess I could try it," I said.

"It would be interesting to try all of the delicacies of this place," Zhongli muttered as he rubbed his chin.

"I wonder if they have Korean food here…" Jinwoo murmured as he tried to look at the menu displayed on the wall next to the line.

It was time for a feast in Rhodes Island. We'll definitely need a carb load in preparation for the next few weeks of work.

"Hey, boss! The usual apple pie, but for two, please!" Exusiai cheerfully shouted.

"Two? You're becoming quite a glutton," The elderly woman at the front teased with a chuckle.

"I'm not! It's for a friend!" Exusiai replied to the accusation.

"Sure," The woman said with a dismissive tone, giving everyone except Exusiai a chuckle.