Chapter 1983: Who Scam Who?
Chapter 1983: Who Scam Who?
"What a bore." Ixa yawned as now they were placed in a hotel room instead of a detainment area.
"At least we have two beds. Better than the other safe house. And we can take a shower too." Ixel tried to reason but Ixa rolled her eyes. They could have done something more useful than having all the foxes lazing around in a room together.
But Jin's orders were to comply with the immigration and they gave him respect because they knew that if they created trouble for him right now, it would be difficult for the Dungeon Supplier to move forward in Italy when it comes to expansion.
They know that they too did not need to comply but given the fact that they were exhausted from the day long use of chi, especially that last portion where they practically went into overdrive and to show their competence against those immigration agents.
The fatigue was so apparent that some of the Foxes were already dozing off at the corner while Kiyu shamelessly occupied a bed and created a barrier so that none of the foxes could disturb her while she dived into lalaland.
In the meantime, Rex was already typing out documents and perhaps orders for the Demopolis military to be sortie for defensive battles. There were drafts and plans based on Jin's rather direct peeping over the shoulders.
As for the rest, they were just lazing around, waiting for time to pass. And time did pass as there was a ring on the bell after a long while. The very same few immigration agents were there to greet them but instead of them wearing vests filled with equipment, they were in their regular clothes with a batch on.
"What's the matter?" Pei questioned as she was the one to open the door.
"We like to escort you to the airport counter to get your immigration done so you can return as soon as possible." The agent said with a little grace in their words. There was undoubtedly some fear but they tried to remain calm when they interacted with the Foxes.
"Lol, who wants to bet that they provided us some plain economy seats back?" Evon shouted out shamelessly. "Boss, can we do an upgrade instead? We got some money, right?"
"Considering how they have treated us so far, I suppose it's fair I as a boss show that we can do better right? I can pay to upgrade the seats or how about we hire a private jet plane instead?" Jin asked and the rest clapped their hands in unison and the immigration authorities felt like they were in a bind.
They had indeed gotten those 'plain' economy seats and because of the urgency, the booking itself was quite a bomb.
Cancelling them will no doubt save a lot of money for the agency but their Chief would definitely be mad at them especially when they made a fool for themselves and now their 'guests' were going to pay to return to the countries. If other departments were to hear about the immigration agency's folly as well as their 'absent' execution of the aftermath, they would be a laughing stock.
Yet at the same time, committing to a private jet plane immediately? This was something that the agency could not possibly do at all.
At most, the budget that the Chief had given them was to allow premium economy seats. But that was blown out of the water when they realised that the reservation of economy seats had already taken up 98% of the budget designated by the Chief.
And if they sincerely wanted to get a private jet, all the immigration agents could do was to show them the direction of the company. And asked if they could give them a discount.
"What about we hire a pilot and let them ride on one of those private jets that we had impounded instead?" The immigration agent sent a telepathy message to one of their seniors who was standing at the front door.
"That's not a good idea. Those impounded private jets do not have any maintenance done. If we were to allow those jets to fly without proper maintenance records, it would be on our heads if anything happened to them." The senior agent asked the Foxes to wait for a moment as he gave the excuse of not having the corridor cleared.
"Then we can just allow them to teleport back, right? Isn't getting a portal certification an easier matter for us? We do not have to waste money on our side. They were already willing to spend money on a private jet, I believe the price of a portal costs as much as the certification for a portal." One of the agents asked and some of the team members felt it was a brilliant idea.
"However, the portal quota had already been capped for this month. That was why even the prime minister and his fellow cabinet members were flying back last night. Even they respected the portal quota cap. If we were to break this, it might potentially cause us to lose our standing in the department." One of the senior agents pointed out and the rest was in a bind again.
"Surely, the Chief will help to fight for this, no?" The agents asked. "We said that the foreigners needed to return quickly and they have a portal ready. There's nothing spent on our end. Just the needed permission."
"Fine. Fine. Let's go with that. They might not be happy that they have to spend their time at the portal but at least they would not need to suffer another few hours of flight sitting at rubbish seats and cursing us." The lead agents decided and eventually told Jin and the Foxes about the situation.
"Lol. You guys waited this long to reach the consensus that we need to take a portal back?"
"It's either that or you can hire a private jet for your comfort. Otherwise, the only thing we can offer you is the economy seats." The agents said as they nearly forgot that they still do have some authority in this situation. At the same time, they were hoping their leader would be reasonable enough.
"Sure, we can portal back but pay us the budget for those economy seats that you booked," Jin said as it was pretty obvious that their telepathy communications were not as secure as they thought.
"I apologise but those seats were goodwill offers by the airline considering the deeds you had done." The senior agent said and everyone within the room, be it the agents and the foxes, knew that was a fucking. blatant. lie.
"Oh really? Shall I go talk to the airline agency and ask them instead?" Jin decided to play the game of 'tag' too.
"There is no need to. We had liaised with them and can cancel the seats so that you guys can just take your portal."
"Just a theory, if given more time, will they be able to give us better seats, say first class... nah never mind, Business class will suffice if we were to wait longer? Or the airline that you had liaised with is a miser?" Tsu questioned and every other fox all agreed.
"Yeah, if it's the goodwill of the airline, I do not mind staying behind for a few days, spending some money in Rome, and going back with a business class." Kai collaborated with Tsu on this and the rest agreed once more.
"Ahaha... Let me ask the airlines for their opinion."
"Oh, I do not mind going with you. I know quite a few people connected to ITA Airways, surely it may help expedite your case." Kraft grinned and the agents started to panic a little.
"There are no worries there, we will settle for you. After all, we did something displeasing to you."
"No trouble at all, it's even more boring to stay in this pathetic looking hotel room. Right guys?" Kraft urged the rest and they all followed with the act.
"Why did you not say it's ITA Airways. I too know a few people." Kiyu yawned as she pretended to hear all those conversations when she was half asleep when in actuality, she was also doing an impromptu act.
"Besides, you did say that we need to follow you to the airport counter to get our initial immigration done," Jin said and extended his hand out to show them to lead the way.
The agents on the other hand were not able to exert their authority as they wanted because of what had happened previously and they reluctantly brought the group to the airport counter while a senior agent rushed to the ITA airway counter with his Chief on the phone asking for a huge favour.
But given that Kraft had already planted 'eavesdroppers' around them, every other fox and Jin was able to relish the desperate conversation the senior agent had with the airway representative. It was so bad that even the on duty manager had to call his manager to come down to have a talk.
Yet at the same time, the senior agent was going to call Kraft's bluff, believing that Kraft was lying. This way, they might be able to get out of this sticky situation. There was no way these remote groups of strong cultivators had friends at such places in the airline.
Boy oh boy. Each and every Fox who heard such an intention from the senior agent's thoughts was laughing to their hearts' content. One of the senior managers came down from their airport office to defuse the situation and when the senior agent introduced the senior manager to Kraft, he was extremely surprised that the senior manager did acknowledge Kraft as a good friend.
"Kraft, my dear brother. What happened?"
"Oh, it's nothing. We kinda saved Rome and I heard that the goodwill tickets were only economy tickets. It's a tad disappointing, you know that?" Kraft said and the senior manager was aghast.
"You are the few who save Rome? That big ass dome in the middle of the capital?"
"Well, duh. You knew me for some time and you still doubt my abilities?" Kraft joked and at that point, the immigration senior agent felt that he fell into a shithole that he cannot return to after he hear the next sentence.
"Those tickets were no goodwill tickets. They were bought by the immigration tickets. But seeing how they were able to afford this much to the heroes of Rome showed how corrupted our public offices have become. Not to worry. For your service to Rome and from a brother to another brother. I will cater a private ITA airway plane for you."
"Bro."
"Bro."
Enough was said about the manipulation of the senior manager of ITA Airway.