Chapter 791: Captain Urfang

As always, Lorelie greeted him with a “Welcome back” as he entered the room.

“I’m back,” Adam said with a smile before heading back to his seat, adding. “Sorry about that.”

“Why are you apologising? It’s not your fault they attacked,” Revi replied.

“Isn’t it?” Adam asked as he looked out on the match, though he wasn’t paying much attention to it. “They came here for me and Stacey.”

“True, but you never did anything to specifically anger the guild; it’s always been them who came after you,” Rowena replied. “Even in the beginning, this all began because they put a bounty on you even though you were part of the guild.”

[MercheadAnderson (Palaxia): Diva Rowena’s right? Wasn’t the guild building destroyed on Terrana Five precisely because all the guild members present at the time attacked him?]

“I agree with chat, we should destroy the entire guild,” Tephe said angrily.

[Celebrityhunter69 (Earth): Yeah, you tell um dragon princess.]

[DeverinianLordMalacoss (Deverinian 9): It’s not that easy.]

“Whoa, slow down there, Tephe; it’s not so easy to wipe out a universe-wide organisation,” Erkath replied before adding. “It would even take your dragon race a long time to do so, considering you’d have to travel to every corner of the universe.”

“Now that that’s over, let me ask again: How did such an organisation gain so much power?” Emma asked.

“It stems from when the Universal Senate was still in its infancy,” Erkath began to explain. “Back when Kavita and her mates formed the Senate, much of the universe was still a lawless place, and they lacked the forces to tame it. Kavita might have been one of the strongest individuals in the universe at the time, but she couldn’t be everywhere at once.

So that was when the first head of the bounty hunter guild approached Kavita and proposed the idea of the bounty hunter guild. Bounty hunters themselves were not a foreign concept at the time; however, there was no structure or guild, and they all worked independently of one another.

The creation of the bounty hunter guild made it easier for the hunters themselves to find jobs since people and companies began publishing them through the guild, and since the guild took a cut of every completed job, their wealth soon exploded.

This showed them to spread out across the universe, unchecked for the most part, though individual galaxies still hold the right to kick them out if they so wish, such as how the Oasis Galaxy recently did.

However, while the Universal Senate is the highest authority in the universe, the bounty hunter guild is probably the largest military power in the universe.”

“And nobody thought to stop them getting that much power?” Emma asked in disbelief.

“This is politics, Emma; politicians don't want to know what’s happening until it becomes a major incident; that way they can claim plausible deniability,” Erkath shrugged.

“And now they’ve lost control over the guild?” Adam asked.

“It’s more accurate to say they have an agreement,” Erkath explained. “Both sides know that a war between them would be costly, and so they try to avoid that. The bounty hunter guild might be the strongest military power, but that’s only because they're more united than the militaries of each separate race. If those militaries could work together, the bounty hunters wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“And what do you suppose the Senate's policy is on my disagreement with them?” Adam asked.

Erkath was about to reply when a new ID appeared in the chat that was on a large holographic screen near the balcony.

[BigdogUlfang (Universal Senate): Perhaps I can answer that.]

[StealthAssassin9 (Earth): Who’s this guy?]

[Handsome3horns (Vinox 2): No idea.]

This chapter was published by its author somewhere else entirely; wherever you're reading it now picked it up without their say-so.

[1000yearsofdeath (Earth): Big dog? A bit of a big assumption. Kekeke.]

[NonpareilRaphilia (Aaru): Well, isn’t this surprising? I never thought Captain Ulfang of the Universal Senate Security Special Investigations Department would show up in chat.]

[HackerSu (TIS-Starleap): Special Investigations Department, oh look at the time, I need to go wash my hair.]

[OrangeeyedStace (Aqua Primus): That’s not fooling anyone, Su. HAHAHA.]

[HackerSu (TIS-Starleap): FUCK YOU STACE.]

[OrangeeyedStace (Aqua Primus): You wish, smugeatinggrinemoji.]

[Phoenixempress (Aqua Primus): Why are you here, Captain Ulfang? What interest could the Special Investigations Department have in a streamer?]

[BigdogUlfang (Universal Senate): Originally nothing; I was simply busy reading reports when an annoying stream invite popped up and refused to go away until I clicked it. Who would have thought the stream would feature so many big-named individuals, including the Phoenix Empress, Former senator of the Hades Galaxy and even three Divas.]

{Really? You invited a member of the Universal Senate Security to the chat?} Adam thought; however, as always when it came to who was invited, Spector stayed annoyingly silent.

[DeverinianLordMalacoss (Deverinian 9): Wait, so the streamer's AI invited the chief of the Special Investigations Department?]

[Whitehorn (Darah 5): Why would it do that? Now they’ll know about the Universal Force Staff.]

[BigdogUlfang (Universal Senate): Indeed, I was quite surprised upon seeing the streamer's force staff, and I’m awfully curious as to where he acquired it]

[Superherofangirl (Earth): Not good, not good, not good.]

“Is there a problem with him having a force staff, Captain Ulfang?” Erkath asked as she read Ulfang's comment in the chat.

[BigdogUlfang (Universal Senate): As a former senator, you should know the answer to that.]

“But that only applies to those from the known universe, which Adam isn’t,” Erkath said, smiling. “He’s from outside the known universe.”

[BigdogUlfang (Universal Senate): …]

[1000yearsofdeath (Earth): Gotem. Kekeke.]

[StealthAssassin9 (Earth): Wasn’t expecting that, where you, Captain, not so big dog?]

[Noobkiller9000 (Earth): Really? That’s what you went with? Captain, not so big dog?]

Rowena smirked before asking, “So, Captain Ulfang, care to answer Adam’s question regarding his disagreement with the Bounty Hunter Guild?”

[BigdogUlfang (Universal Senate): Although it’s not official, I’m sure former Senator Erkath was about to tell you how the Universal Senate and Bounty Hunters Guild have a non-interference agreement.]

“Seriously?” Adam asked before turning to Erkath. “They basically give them free rein?”

Erkath sighed and nodded before saying, “It goes back to how they're both trying to maintain the status quo since neither wants a war that could engulf much of the universe.”

“And the Senate's response to the destruction of the guild hall on Terrana Five?” Adam asked.

[BigdogUlfang (Universal Senate): Bounty Hunter Guild halls fall under guild jurisdiction, so as long as no innocents, or at least a limited number of innocents, are harmed, the Senate will turn a blind eye and leave it in the hands of the local authorities.]

[Superherofangirl (Earth): That’s so messed up. What sort of government doesn’t care if innocent people are hurt?]

[Gunlovergirl (Earth): Umm, all of them?]

[AlamoMatador4thewin (Earth): Yeah, they only make a showing of being sympathetic and do fuck all about it, or at least until there’s enough peer pressure put on them.]

“So I assume the Senate and security department won’t have any issue with me discussing the bounty they have on us?” Adam asked.

[BigdogUlfang (Universal Senate): Why do I get the feeling that your discussions won’t involve much actual discussion?]

Adam smiled in response to Urfang's comment before he turned to Rowena and said, “I need a favour.”

Rowena smiled before saying, “Of course, all you have to do is ask, darling.”

“How do you think Malgath would feel about me using his show to send the guild a message?”

Lorelie chuckled before saying, “That’s not really a discussion, babe.”

[BigdogUlfang (Universal Senate): See, I knew it.]

Rowena smirked before playing with her uniband while saying, “Sounds entertaining; why don’t we find out?”

***

Galamedees Galaxy, Solarian Prime.

Malgath Morthil Miraweny sat in his personal office at the studio where The MMM Show was filmed, going over the schedule for tonight’s show.

After reading through the schedule, Malgath leaned back in his chair before saying, “Something’s missing.”

“I agree,” Malgath’s friend and the show's producer, Ciliren Virpeiros, said in agreement. “It’s missing something that will make tonight’s show really pop.”

“Are there any celebrities releasing anything new soon that we can interview?” Malgath asked.

“Unfortunately not,” Ciliren replied while shaking her head. “The only one regularly releasing something is Diva Lorelie with her New Genre music, and you know the likelihood of inviting her onto the show.”

“Please don’t start on that again,” Malgath sighed. “I know I fucked up with Rowena; my wife reminds me of it every few days.”

“Then fix it,” Ciliren instructed. “Diva Rowena was the most popular diva we regularly had appearing on the show.”

“You think I haven’t tried? I tried calling and texting her, but it seems she blocked me,” Malgath sighed. “Then I even asked Ulesse to contact her, only to be told that Rowena would contact me when she was ready.”

Ciliren sighed and was about to reply when Malgath’s uniband notified him of an incoming call. Upon checking and seeing who it was from, Malgath’s eyes widened in surprise before he quickly accepted the call.

A holographic screen appeared above Malgath’s desk, featuring Rowena as she flashed a beautiful smile before saying, “Hello, Malgath. I have a proposition for you.”