Arthur chuckled softly, hands in his pockets as he strolled away from the restaurant. His companions followed behind him, heads tilted curiously to the side as they watched him. They knew better than to ask though, not until the group was far enough away that their conversation could not be overheard by the gang members.
"You gila ah?" Eric said, angrily.
"What?" Arthur said.
"You bought their building and then paid for them to upgrade it and then took a loan!" he snapped. "You took a loan from the triads!"
"Eh, pretty sure the..."
He winced as he was struck in the side. "Fine, no being pedantic. It's worth it. And I split it among all three, so that it wasn't like we owe any one too much. And the interest rates are actually reasonable." He raised a finger. "Between what Casey will be providing us, and what I have, we should be able to cover it to start."
"To start," Leia said. "That's still a lot of interest!"
"We'll get it paid," Arthur said firmly. "Once we get more people, we will have a better income. And the building itself will pay for itself once it's finished."
"Doing what lah? You already agree, no open their businesses. And why so much space?" Eric asked.
"I'll tell you guys when we're back." He hesitated, then added. "When everyone is here. In the meantime, you're not wrong. We do need more cores."
A long, low groan rose from the pair. Eventually, of course, Arthur would need to visit the administrative center to take control of the building officially, right now everything was being done on a handshake. So letting people know of his plans was dangerous, so for now he was going to play it close.
"I barely got time to cultivate ah," Eric said.
"But the two of you are still our strongest. So you'll need the least." He hesitated, then added a little. "It's important. And I'm not asking you to grind stones for us without pushing ahead. But I need you to do this, Seniors."
"Fine..." Leia said, eventually. "Once you get back, we'll get our gear."
Eric looked unhappy but nodded along, allowing Leia to make the decisions. Good thing too, since Arthur didn't want to beg. Nevermind the fact that his plan was very much reliant on the pair.
***
Inside, a quick check showed that not much new had happened. Nothing, at least, that needed him. The White Lotuses still hadn't returned, so for now, it was time to get back to cultivating. Working on his own strength, even if it pushed back and increased their loan amount was more important.
Especially since he thought he was actually getting close.
***
Night and coming down for a break had Arthur spotting Rick, the man seated on one of the couches, a small note held in hand. When he spotted Arthur, he hid the note automatically, and then after a moment, relaxed and placed it back down.
"Something I should know?" Arthur said.
"No." A glance at the staircase, seeing no one else around this late in the evening. "Yes."
"Problem with a tenant?"
"No. Though... one of them's an enchanter. He's... ummm... different."
"What do you mean different?"
"A kook. He's supposedly good, but also a kook. He's blown up like two offices so far, which is why he was kicked out of his last place. He works and sleeps in the same place which..."
"Which means he's doing his experiments in our apartment complex," Arthur said, angrily.
Rick held a hand up, waited until he had Arthur's attention and added. "I have it handled. He's on the top floor now, and right under the rain barrels. If he blows anything up..."
"The rain barrels will rain right down onto his room?" Arthur shook his head. "I still don't like the idea of our place blowing up."
"Even for free enchanted equipment? For us and the Clan?" Rick said.
That made Arthur hesitate. Those crafters who were willing to live in Towers and get good enough to enchant things were rare, mostly by virtue of the artificial place they existed within. After all, you had to be strong enough often to get to a level. And if you were strong enough, you often spent your time training or fighting, not practising crafting. Which left many crafters either on the first few floors or nowhere.
No surprise then that using the Towers administrative services - or the Towers which were populated by other Tower residents - was the most common way to get enchanted equipment.
"Fine, but he joins us."
"Already agreed." He tapped the paper next then. "But this isn't that."
"Oh?" Curious now, Arthur took the offered note, scanning down it. He shook his head after a moment. " 'A gift. Love Mom & Dad.' What's it mean?"
"Restock."
"Re-... oh. Ohhhhh!" Arthur's eyes widened. Now he could see the need for secrecy and the man's hesitation. Getting and keeping the necessary restock for Rick and his guns must have been difficult if not deadly. Guns and ammo were rare, nearly impossible to acquire in the Tower in Malaysia and, of course, ammunition so far up the Tower was at a premium. If it didn't get stolen or used up before, it would carry a premium price to those in need.
If they had a gun. Which most wouldn't.
Which meant that if the bearer had been waylaid, then a trap laid to bring Rick out - along with his weapons - might result in quite the profit. They wouldn't even have to kill him, just stab and beat him enough to take his weapons. Even Arthur's new allies probably wouldn't even consider it too much of a strain to do that.
"You need backup," Arthur said. "When, where?" Rick looked taken aback at the sudden and open offer of help. When he was silent, Arthur smirked as he continued. "You're Clan now. Which means you get to ask and even if you don't, we're helping."
"Okay. Yeah, okay. Thanks." Rick recovered from his surprise, continued. "There was also a verbal message. Tomorrow - today - at noon. And a place to meet."
"Where?"
"A restaurant. Roadside stall, really, down south and closer to the forest."
Arthur nodded, considered. "We'll get Jan and Yao Jing and maybe Uswah if she's around. They'll be the obvious, she'll be behind and quiet. If she's not there..."
"I-"
Ignoring Rick, he continued. "I'll take her place. But better if she's there." He sighed. "I'm probably a little too famous these days, and just as likely to attract attention."
"Yeah," Rick agreed. He ran a hand through his dark floppy haircut, the ends a little too long so that they brushed against his nose when he didn't pay attention. Unlike the rest of them, he hadn't gone for the easy - and regular - fix of taking a dagger to his hair. Aided by a friend, or not in some cases. "Thank you."
"No need." A wave of his hand, dismissive and then Arthur was standing. "You can ask them yourself or you want me to do it for you?"
"I... I can do it," Rick said, taken aback at the casual distribution of responsibility.
Getting a cup and pouring himself water from the jug contained, Arthur finished the glass and wandered back out, waving goodbye. Hopefully, the pickup went well with little problems.
Either way, he had his own focus.