Building a Safe Zone with My Harem In The Post-Apocalyptic World-Chapter 86: Membership

Freya looked overwhelmed as she tapped Gideon’s shoulder. "What do you think I should buy? This one or this one?"

She pointed to two images in the catalogue. Gideon had not listened to a single detail about their specifications and he didn’t bother to read them either.

"Hm." He shrugged. "Just choose what your truck actually needs, not what your greed wants. You’re the one who will use it."

"Right..." Freya nodded slowly. "I should think about what Will really needs."

’Ah, so she already named her truck,’ Gideon thought with a faint smile.

Then he shifted his gaze toward Lucia. "Does the mercenary guild have some kind of membership? Specifically a merchant membership?" he asked.

"Oh? Are you a merchant, Mr. Remington?" Lucia replied. She opened another catalogue, flipping through the booklet before showing it to him.

"If you belong to a faction as a Lord, you can see the privileges listed on this side. And if you represent a company, the benefits are explained here."

She paused briefly before adding in a polite but professional tone.

"However, I should warn you that membership is not something you can simply register for. It is something that must be granted. For now, Mr. Remington, you cannot apply for it yourself. The guild will invite you if you qualify."

Gideon understood immediately. It was similar to the privilege tiers he had seen in the Infinite System’s PayLater feature.

"So what do I need to do to be invited?"

"You need to fulfill requests that our guild currently cannot handle. At least twenty orders."

"Can they be different types of requests?" he asked while lazily scanning the membership benefits.

Most of them looked like the usual advantages for distributors and manufacturers. He even noticed the name Freebound listed there as a service agent and paper supplier.

But the real value of membership was not written on paper. He wanted connections and information. Access to the deeper network of this post-apocalyptic society. Especially information about the movements of the Order of the West and the Scion of the Lord.

"Of course," Lucia replied. "But we usually encourage applicants to specialize in one field. Fulfilling many different types of requests at once is almost impossible."

Not for Gideon.

"Can you show me the list of unfulfilled requests?"

"Certainly." Lucia stood up. "If you are serious about this, Mr. Remington, please follow me."

Gideon rose from his chair and pulled Freya along with him. She was still completely absorbed in the catalogue and had not made a decision yet. She grabbed the booklet and continued reading while being dragged behind him.

They climbed the stairs and arrived at the second floor, which was much quieter. Instead of counters and crowds, the floor was lined with rooms.

Lucia led them into one of those rooms and asked them to sit. She excused herself briefly to gather the files.

When she returned, her arms were filled with stacks of request folders. She placed them on the table, covering most of the surface.

The folders were sorted by color.

"The red files are requests that can only be handled by service agents," she explained. "Most of them are S-rank missions with extreme difficulty."

She tapped another stack. "The blue files contain luxury goods requests such as seeds, crops, alcohol, and other specialty items."

Then another. "The green files are technology-related requests, including machinery and mechanical equipment."

Finally, she pointed at the last stack. "And the yellow files are logistics and procurement requests. Fuel, raw materials, food, beverages, and other daily necessities."

"I see." Gideon nodded. "Can I look at the blue files?"

Lucia handed them over. Each request sheet listed the exact item, along with detailed specifications such as weight, size, and quality class. Surprisingly, most of the luxury goods were things Gideon could obtain very easily.

He calmly selected twenty request papers and lined them up on the table before handing them back to Lucia.

"I’ll fulfill these twenty today." Then he leaned back slightly. "So that means I can become a member, right?"

Lucia looked genuinely surprised. "But Mr. Remington... these goods..."

She paused before nodding slowly. In her line of work, demeaning someone’s abilities, especially if he has the potential to become a permanent manufacturer was prohibited,

"The deadline is tonight. If you can deliver them before then, the guild will grant you membership. Are you representing a company or a faction?"

"I’m alone. Just an individual. Will that be a problem?"

"Uh... no, but—"

"Good." Gideon smiled. "Then I’ll purchase the engine my woman wants and deliver the goods tonight. Right here."

He leaned forward slightly. "I hope the guild is ready to welcome its newest member."

Lucia looked both confused and troubled by his confidence.

Showing off a little once in a while was not so bad.

He had not used his real name or mentioned his faction. As far as the Mercenary Guild knew, he was nobody. As long as Jade and the other Freebound members kept their mouths shut, he could easily hide his real identity.

’Ah... the benefits of a ruined society,’ he thought. In a world like this, becoming someone else was surprisingly easy.

’Though if there’s ever a meeting between members, I’ll probably need to hide my face. And I definitely need to keep this from Delilah.’

"Um, Gideon? We’re staying the night here, right?" Freya suddenly asked.

They were walking side by side. This time she wrapped her arm around his and clung to him, looking up with wide puppy-like eyes. She did not even need to say it out loud. Gideon already knew what she wanted.

"Of course. We’ll have some fun after I deliver the goods," he said with a smirk. "But for now, you need to rest."

He smacked her backside lightly. Freya gasped and stumbled slightly, her steps faltering. Her face flushed red as she turned to pout at him.

"You jerk!"

"Ah, so you’re still sensitive even after that plug kept hitting your G-spot earlier? Good. I was worried it stopped working."

He shrugged casually, which only made her even more annoyed. Freya turned her head away and refused to argue further. After all, he had just bought her the expensive hybrid engine she wanted.

In the end, they decided to stay in one of the proper lodgings in the city. It was expensive, but the room had a beautiful night view and even a balcony.

Gideon was alone there for now. Freya finished her rest a moment ago and had gone to the Freebound office to contact her mother so Delilah would not worry about her.

They used aberrant doves to send messages.

For now, all the items Gideon needed to deliver to the Mercenary Guild were spread out in front of him along with the copies of the request papers Lucia had given him; bags of seeds, natural salt, and various spices.

"Hard to believe it’s this easy to get rich," he murmured.

Still, he understood why these items had become luxury goods.

Most of the salt sold in this world came from a type of aberrant that lived near the sea. Extracting normal sea salt had become incredibly difficult because the ocean creatures were far more dangerous than anything on land.

On top of that, the coastal regions were constantly battered by hurricanes, and the rainwater there was toxic if consumed in large amounts making the ocean water also toxic.

It was almost as if the ocean belonged to a completely different world compared to this endless desert.

Spices and seeds had nearly gone extinct. Some parts of the continent were still capable of growing crops, but transporting them took a long time and they ended up wilting before even reaching another continent.

That was why people like Gideon had become extremely valuable suppliers.

He stood up from the table. "Alright. Time to deliver these and pick up Freya."