Pampering Discarded Heroines Triggers My 10,000x Rebate System

The three armored SUVs passed through the northern checkpoint gates of Veridia Metropolis without stopping. Their Apex Sovereign passes cleared the automated barriers automatically.

Evren tapped the driver’s shoulder as they approached the highway fork.

”Split the convoy,” Evren ordered. ”Have the two rear vehicles take the luggage and shopping boxes up to Victoria Hill. Arthur will receive them. We’re going straight to Sector One.”

”Yes, Chairman,” the security driver replied, signaling the team over the radio.

The two rear SUVs veered left toward the winding pine roads of Victoria Hill, while the lead vehicle took the industrial expressway heading west toward the rugged mountain ranges of Sector One.

Thirty minutes later, they turned off the paved road onto a wide gravel path lined with heavy stone barricades.

The compound of Sector One: Mine Number Three was buzzing with activity.

Dozens of Apex Security guards patrolled the area, carrying enchanted mana-carbines. Nearby, loud diesel generators powered the floodlights and ventilation fans. By the offices, Dr. Ron Hayes and his assistants were finishing their work, handing out water and thermal blankets to the forty rescued miners.

The SUV rolled to a halt in front of the main field command trailer.

Evren stepped out of the vehicle, with Amber and Zephyra following close behind.

Zephyra looked around the dusty mining yard, scanning the perimeter fences and watchtowers. Her hands were tucked casually into her jacket pockets.

”Chairman!”

Derrick walked out of the command trailer, wearing combat armor dusted with gray rock powder. Beside him were Mikay and Garon.

”Are all forty miners accounted for?” Evren asked immediately as he walked up the metal steps.

”Every single one,” Derrick confirmed, leading them inside the air-conditioned trailer. ”Dr. Hayes gave them a clean bill of health. A few scrapes and mild dust inhalation, but no broken bones. We’ve already arranged transport to take them home to their families for two weeks of paid recovery leave.”

”Good,” Evren nodded, turning to Garon. ”Give me the ground assessment.”

Garon wiped sweat from his weathered forehead and pulled up a 3D holographic layout of Mine Number Three on the central table.

”It’s a mess down there, Boss,” Garon said, pointing at the red vertical shaft on the display. ”When the silver acid dissolved the brake calipers, the main five-ton hoist cage fell over three hundred feet. It crashed into the bottom of Sub-Level Four, bending the steel rails and collapsing thirty yards of the tunnel ceiling.”

”Can we bypass the main shaft?” Amber asked, leaning over the blueprint.

”Not for heavy ore transport,” Garon shook his head. ”The auxiliary borehole was barely wide enough to pull men up in single harnesses. To haul fifty tons of raw mana-crystal ore out of the deep veins every day, we need to rebuild the entire elevator hoist from scratch.”

”What’s the timeline and cost?” Evren asked.

”Standard contractors would take six weeks,” Garon replied. ”But with the Prescott family blocking our valley routes, our smelting foundry in Sector 4 will run out of supplies in four days. To fix this quickly with high-end equipment and non-stop crews, we need immediate funding.”

Evren looked at Mikay and said, ”Do whatever it takes. Pull the money from our operating reserves. Hire crews to work around the clock and get the new rails here by tomorrow morning. I want Mine Three working again in seventy-two hours.”

”Understood, Boss,” Mikay nodded, tapping his screen to approve the wire transfers. ”I’ll also deploy twenty armored transport trucks from our tactical logistics depot to start running heavy escorts along the supply roads.”

”Good,” Evren said. He turned to Derrick. ”Now take me to Varner.”

—

Outside the main trailer, Derrick led Evren, Amber, and Zephyra across the gravel yard toward a reinforced steel shipping container sitting near the perimeter fence.

Four armed guards stood stationed outside the heavy door. When they saw Evren approach, the guards saluted and unlocked the double iron deadbolts.

Derrick pulled the container door open.

Inside, sitting on a bare metal chair beneath a single flickering lightbulb, was Shift Foreman Varner. His orange safety vest was damp with sweat, and his wrists were cuffed behind his back to the metal frame of the chair.

When the door opened and Evren stepped into the container, Varner’s head snapped up. A flash of nervous panic crossed the foreman’s face, but he quickly forced a smug, stubborn sneer onto his lips.

”Chairman Crawford,” Varner said in a raspy, defiant voice. ”You have no right to hold me here like an animal. I am a licensed provincial mine foreman. Keeping me locked in a steel box without a warrant is illegal.”

Evren stood in front of the chair with his hands in his pockets, looking down at him with cold eyes.

”We found the residue of Corrosive Silver-Acid on your clothes,” Evren said calmly. ”We pulled the digital logs from the hazardous materials vault showing your keycard opened the locker twenty minutes before the power dropped. We found ten thousand dollars in cash and an encrypted burner phone in your truck.”

Varner scoffed, turning his face away toward the metal wall.

”Circumstantial nonsense,” Varner snapped. ”Someone stole my keycard. The cash is my personal gambling savings. And I have no idea who put that phone in my vehicle.”

Varner looked back up at Evren. ”You think because you bought this mine, you own the province? My employment contract was signed under Prescott’s commercial charter. You can’t touch a hair on my head without hard evidence in front of a tribunal. I demand my phone call, and I demand to see Lord Alistair’s chief legal counsel immediately.”

Amber’s dark eyes narrowed with anger, while Derrick took a step forward, clenching his fists.

Evren raised a hand, stopping Derrick in his tracks.

Before Evren could speak, a quiet voice came from the back of the container.

”He thinks civil laws apply inside this box,” Zephyra said softly.

Stepping silently from the shadows, Zephyra moved to stand beside Evren. Her silver hair framed her face, and she locked her dark violet gaze on Varner, watching him with the calm expression of a predator sizing up its prey.

She looked at Varner’s wrists, then at the pulse point in his throat.

”Evren,” Zephyra said without taking her eyes off the foreman. ”Leave the room for five minutes. Amber and Derrick too.”

Evren glanced at her, noticing the stillness in her shoulders and the edge in her tone. ”Are you sure?”

Zephyra turned her head slightly, meeting Evren’s gaze. A faint, confident trace of a smile touched the corner of her lips.

”I’ve got this,” she said softly. ”I’ll get you the name, the exact depot location, and whatever he’s hiding.”

Evren held her gaze for a second, then nodded. ”Five minutes.”

Evren, Amber, and Derrick turned and walked out of the container.

The steel door swung shut behind them with a loud THUD as the guards slid the heavy outer deadbolt into place.

Inside the enclosed metal container, the only sound was the low hum of the ventilation fan and the faint buzzing of the hanging bulb.

Varner swallowed hard. The smug sneer on his face began to crack as he looked at the slender, silver-haired girl standing alone in front of him.

”W-What do you think you’re going to do, little girl?” Varner stammered, trying to sound tough as he pulled against the handcuffs. ”You think you can scare me? I’ve worked in underground mines for twenty years! I’m not afraid of some...”

Zephyra didn’t raise her voice; she took one slow step forward.

She slowly raised her hands and flexed her fingers. Beneath her pale skin, thin violet lines flared like burning starlight. Cold, dark violet mist curled between her knuckles, hissing as it touched the dry air.

A malicious gleam lit up her dark violet eyes.

”You’ve worked in mines for twenty years,” Zephyra purred as she repeated his exact words. ”That means you know exactly how long a man can scream in the dark before his vocal cords snap.”

She tilted her head slightly. ”Let’s see if you can break the record.”